The Fullmetal Vampire Diaries
by Henai
Summary: Cross-over of The Vampire Diaries and Fullmetal Alchemist. Follows the story of the TV series of TVD using characters from FMA. Rated T for potential language, gore and sexy times. Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN OR HAVE ANY RIGHTS TO FMA OR TVD.
1. Author's notes

Main Character's ages:

Winry Rockbell: 18 (vampire version- over 500)

Alphonse Elric: 18 (164)

Edward Elric: 19 (165)

Roy Mustang: 35

Riza Hawkeye: 32

Olivia Armstrong: 34

Elicia Hughes: 18

Paninya Bennett: 18

Ling Yao: 18

Russell Tringham: 19

Maes Hughes: 35

Rose Thomas: 19

Mayor Bradley: 51

Carol Bradley: 49

Selim Bradley: 18

Jean Havoc: 34

Pinako Rockbell: 72

Izumi Curtis: 31 (over 600)

Lan Fan: 18 (483)

Wrath and Pride (Bradley and Selim) are the only homunculi I've used as main characters due to the fact they are also known by human names. Other homunculi may show up later, but I wanted to avoid having main, human characters called Envy, Lust or Gluttony for example. I'm trying to keep a sense of normalcy (haha) within the story.

As I'm English, and I don't know the Amestrian laws regarding alchohol, I'm basing rules involving alcohol upon English laws, so characters can legally be drinking from the age of 18, not 21 as in America. Characters can also drive age 17, provided they have passed their driving test, get married without permission aged 18 and legally consent to sex aged 16. Also as I'm unsure of the American schooling system I am using an English one, so not all teenage characters, such as Ling and Rose, are in education, as they could leave schooling aged 16. Winry, Elicia and Paninya are in their last year of college education before either leaving for employment or progressing to university.


	2. Chapter One: Events Are Set in Motion

Chapter One

Events Are Set in Motion

The light gold eyes of the youth followed the blond girl until she was safely within the boundaries of her house. As soon as he heard the lock click shut he leapt down from the tree in which he had been perched and landed soundlessly on the ground, before seemingly disappearing into the shadows of the evening. For over 100 years he had lived in the shadows, belonging neither to the night, nor the day, but now he had decided to come into the light and get to know this girl. He hadn't fed yet that night, and he knew it was dangerous to see her when he could feel his bloodlust begin to rise, but he had to see with own eyes that she got home safely. For the first time in several years he could feel his brother's presence nearby, and that was never a good thing. Catching the scent of a deer on the breeze he silently turned to the woods to stalk his prey. Alphonse Elric would feed better that night than he had in the week since he had arrived back in Risembool, the town where he had been born; the town where he had died.

* * *

"Aunt Riza! I'm home," shouted Winry as she closed the front door behind her, banishing out the early autumn chill. Taking off her coat and scarf Winry Rockbell subtly wiped the few tears from her eyes that she had shed as she had walked home from college. She had thought she was over it, or as over your parents' deaths as you could be, but walking home that night she had forced herself to walk past the surgery where her parents had practiced medicine. As she hadn't been near it in the six months since their deaths Winry had decided it was a hurdle she had to clear in order to move on with her life. Of course the town had moved on and new doctors had moved into the surgery to replace the Rockbells; people still got sick and needed medical treatment, but Winry still found it hard to think that people could have moved on so quickly. Her parents had been good doctors hadn't they? How could the town have forgotten them so easily?

"I was about to call you to see where you were, I was beginning to get worried." Her aunt's voice tore her away from her reverie. "At least you're back in time for dinner!" Even though Winry called her aunt, Riza wasn't actually related to her. Riza Hawkeye was her mother's best friend, they had known each other since they were children, and as Riza had so often visited and encouraged her obsession with Automail, Winry referred to her, and thought of her, as an aunt. After her parent's had died they had discovered that Riza was the one person in the world that her parents had decided to entrust their children to; to which Riza had been more surprised than anyone. Winry made her way into the kitchen diner to find Riza dishing up a beef stew into three bowls; one each for herself and Winry, and a third for Ling, Winry's adopted brother. Winry sat down at the table as Riza began to slice some fresh baked bread for them to mop up their stew.

"You know Ling won't be here to eat that, Riza. He's too busy moping around in the woods with his... friends."

"I know just as well as you what that boy is doing," said Riza. "But at least there'll be food for him when he gets in. So how was college today?"

"Fine, we had a free morning because Mr Kimbley was ill and they couldn't find a substitute in time, so that gave me a chance to perfect my project for Automail design, which Mr Garfiel was _very _impressed with."

Winry was studying to become an Automail mechanic like her famed grandmother Pinako Rockbell had been before she retired. She had considered being a doctor like her parents, but she much preferred to be covered in grease than blood, so she had chosen a career in Automail. Of course, being a doctor's daughter gave her an advantage over other mechanics when it came to the Automail surgery, she could be involved in all stages of the Automail process, not just the making of the prosthetic limbs. How she longed for the day when she could graduate from college and set up her own Automail shop.

"I hear that Russell Tringham is back in town after visiting his brother for the summer," Riza said casually.

"Oh please, Aunt Riza! Russell and I are just friends. Any feelings that I might have had for him when we were six years old are long gone! We're more like siblings!"

"I seem to recall you two spending a great deal of time together after your parents died. He went above and beyond the duties of a friend. He's probably hoping that if he keeps up these good deeds he'll get his reward." Riza winked.

"Riza!" Winry almost choked on her stew at the thought.

Although she loved Riza dearly and thought of her as family, Winry did get annoyed by the fact she kept trying to set her up with "nice boys". It was as if Riza thought eighteen was far too old to still be single, she should be married and set up with her own perfect suburban home. Winry thought she was far too young to even be contemplating a serious relationship; she was enjoying herself too much as a singleton with a potentially prosperous career in Automail mechanics to worry about such things as boys. Besides, Riza was a fine one to talk, 32 and not even a sign of a serious relationship that could lead to marriage!

"Aunt Riza, I will only say this once: Russell is a _very _good friend, he's like a brother to me, and I will be eternally grateful to him for the support he has given me the last few months, but you know as well as I do that he and Elicia are crazy for each other and the sooner they get together the better for everyone's sanity. Besides I'm really not interested in boys at the moment."

* * *

The couple were on their way home from a long day at the office, and still had a fair way to drive as they entered into the shadows of the forest. It was dark unusually early that night, and a mist that floated amongst the trees was beginning to form into a slightly denser fog. They both worked for the state military, the woman as a personal secretary to a general and the man in the communications department, and they were lucky enough to have the same shifts so that they could share lifts. Only needing one car certainly helped saved them money, which they especially needed as they were getting married the next summer.

"This fog is getting pretty thick," stated the woman. "I hope it doesn't get any worse or you won't be able to LOOK OUT!" she screamed as a dark figure appeared standing in the middle of the road. The male swerved to avoid hitting the person and at the same time applied the brakes, causing the car to skid out of control and straight into a tree.

"You OK?" he asked his fiancé. She nodded, in shock from the sudden accident. "Wait here, I'm going to see if that idiot is alright, and if they are I'll kill them." He got out of the car, leaving the woman to search her pockets for her handkerchief, which she put to the cut on her forehead to staunch the bleeding. She then reached for her mobile phone, intending to call for a recovery service, but she never got that far. A sudden crash on the bonnet caused her to scream; as she saw her fiancé's body slam into the car, his face contorted in fear, before he was suddenly pulled away into the darkness again. Terrified she fumbled with her seatbelt, got out of the car and began to run back along the road as she heard her partner's screams abruptly silenced. Crying as she ran she saw someone walking ahead of her.

"Please, sir! You have to help me! My fiancé and I just crashed and he got out to see if the person we were trying to avoid was OK when something attacked him and I think it might be after me too, but oh God, you have to help me, please!" She garbled this out before she realised that they hadn't passed anyone for several miles, so how could this blond man be here? And the figure in the road they had swerved to avoid, she was sure he had been blond and wearing black just like this man.

"Oh my God," she managed to breathe out before the figure grabbed her, moved her head aside to expose her neck, and before he plunged his fangs into her flesh she saw his face; eyes black and bloodshot, lips pulled back and fangs bared. The vampire drank the woman dry before tossing her body next to that of her lover's, his golden eyes looked down at the bodies, which lay as if asleep and trying to protect each other from bad dreams.

"Well, that should set tongues wagging, and hopefully jog a few memories." Edward Elric turned away from the scene and headed towards Risembool. He didn't like small towns, and he had a special dislike for this one, but his brother was here and he hadn't seen Alphonse in almost a decade, and he had promised to make his afterlife as miserable as possible after all. Besides that there was the girl, Winry, he had seen her in his brother's thoughts, and she sparked an interest in him that he hadn't felt in over a hundred years.


	3. Chapter Two: A Brother's Reunion

Chapter Two

A Brother's Reunion

Alphonse Elric returned to the small white house that stood guard atop of the hill shortly before dawn. The Elric house had been uninhabited for years, due to rumours of hauntings which Alphonse was keen to keep up; it made returning to his former home much easier. When he had first returned to his childhood home in 1914, looking no older than when he had left it he had had to knock and seek permission to enter. It had broken his undead heart, and the task hadn't been made easier by the fact that his distant cousin had been terrified at the sight of his supposedly long-dead relative standing on the doorstep, looking for all the world like he hadn't aged a day since 1864. However, there had been no Elrics, indeed no humans living in the dwelling since 1955, so now Alphonse no longer required permission to enter. But then, neither did other vampires, as he was about to find out. Edward was sprawled out on a sofa in the living room, looking like he owned the place (which, after their cousin's line had died out and left Edward as the eldest "living" male Elric, technically he did), gazing into the fire and nursing a whisky.

"I wondered when you'd get home," Edward drawled, turning to look at Alphonse. "Been out hunting? Was she tasty? She must've been better than the military dogs I caught earlier."

The two brothers were remarkably similar, both had golden eyes and blond hair, although Alphonse kept his darker blond hair short whereas Edward's yellow locks were pulled back into a high ponytail. Edward was a fraction taller than his brother, a fact he prided himself upon, knowing that for the rest of eternity he would be taller than Alphonse. His height had been a point of contention for much of his childhood, as he had spent almost 16 years looking up to his little brother. Both brothers wore modern clothes, and while Alphonse's choice of boots, jeans and sweater were dark in colour they were nothing compared to Edward's entirely black attire. Taking into account his slightly arrogant demeanour, a relic of his privileged upbringing and military service, he truly looked like a Prince of the Night.

"Long time no see, Alphonse. What is it, fifteen years since I last had a chance to torment you? I must say I'm hurt that in all that time you haven't once bothered to contact me. Not even a birthday card! I like the short hair by the way, suits you." Edward sipped his drink before gesturing to his own ponytail. "You never could pull off this look."

"What are you doing here Edward?" Alphonse asked, trying to keep anger, and fear, from his voice. He kept behind the sofa, so that just in case Edward suddenly went for him he at least had some kind of barrier between them.

"What? I have to have a reason to come see my favourite little brother now?" Edward rose from the sofa. "God, you look pale. When was the last time you had something bigger than a squirrel?"

"Tonight actually, and I'm hardly your favourite _person_ let alone favourite _brother_. What are you doing here, Ed?" Alphonse asked again.

Edward feigned hurt and innocence. "I missed you, Alphonse. But mainly I'm here because I intend to cause you pain and suffering like no immortal damned soul can bear." Edward walked towards his brother, and Alphonse responded by moving in the opposite direction. "Oh come on, Al, I'm not gonna jump you. I got bored of that 140 years ago! You know physical violence bores me."

Alphonse snorted in disagreement, but let his brother come closer.

"Well, violence against you anyway. I much prefer the emotional and mental route with you. Far more fun." Edward reached into his jacket pocket and took out a photograph which he held in front of Alphonse's nose. Alphonse didn't blink and drew in a deep breath in surprise. "Beautiful, wasn't she? And uncannily like this Winry you've been following the last few days. Funny, they even have the same first name."

"If you harm her," Alphonse threatened.

"You'll what? You couldn't hurt me if you tried Al; I'm far stronger than you are. And I wouldn't hurt her, I'd simply take her from you. It'd hurt you far more that way." Edward smiled. He put the photograph back in his pocket and left his now empty whisky glass on a table, brushing past Alphonse as he headed for the door.

"Be careful, little brother, she could be greater temptation than your vegetarian morals can resist. And remember, you aren't the only reason I'm here, though I'll try to make as much trouble for you as I can. Oh, and next time, ask my permission before staying in my house."

Alphonse stared after his brother as the door shut behind him and, despite the large meal he had eaten that night, his stomach flipped in fear of what Edward might be planning.


	4. Chapter Three: The New Guy

**Hello! Henai here, just thought I'd start adding little ramblings at the top of the chapters so people know the author is human and not a robot or something! ^^; Anyway, the story is finally starting to get off the ground with a few more characters getting involved. I hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it, its so much fun to play around in the FMA and TVD worlds! Please don't be afraid to review, whether its just "i love this story" or a mile long criticism I don't mind, its nice to know people like what I'm doing or how people think I can improve. Anyway, enjoy chapter 3!**

Chapter Three

The New Guy

The morning sun shone through her window as Winry sat on her bed, cross legged and writing in the journal that her mother had given her for her last birthday.

"_Dear Diary, yesterday I realised something. I realised that life goes on, despite the fact that not everyone you want to share it with is there, and I have to go on too. Just because mum and dad aren't here anymore doesn't mean they aren't with me. Just because they aren't here doesn't mean I'm not here. So today will be different. I will smile, and laugh and I will honestly mean it when I say "I'm fine" when people ask how I am. I will no longer be the sad little girl that lost her parents. I will be Winry Rockbell, up and coming Automail engineer. Its the only way I can make it through."_

Winry closed the diary, put it in the old shoebox she used to store important and sentimental knick-knacks, put the shoebox under her bed and left her room. Just as she came onto the landing she noticed a lean figure half running, half falling down the stairs.

"Ling Yao, I want a word with you!"

"Aw, man," muttered Ling under his breath as he stopped halfway down the staircase. "Busted."

"Indeed you're busted Ling," said Winry sternly as she came down to meet her adoptive brother on the stairs. Anyone could tell from a glance that Ling and Winry were not blood related, for Ling was Xingese. Winry's parent's had adopted Ling when he had shown up as year old baby in a basket on their doorstep, the classic, cliché child abandoning. No one else had been able to take baby Ling in, and a year old Winry had taken such a liking to the new baby that the Rockbell's had immediately filed adoption papers for him.

"What the hell time did you get in last night? Aunt Riza and I were worried sick! We had no idea where you were, and you didn't even have the decency to call! I suppose you were with Rose Thomas and her stoner friends?"

"Rose is _not_ a stoner, and neither are her friends! They're only having a good time, and I'm just trying to forget."

"Forgetting won't change the past, Ling. Mum and dad are gone, look at me!" Winry shouted as Ling began to turn away. "Mum and dad are gone, and they're not coming back, but you can't destroy yourself and your life like this. Mum and dad wouldn't have wanted that."

"Well, we'll never know what _your_ mum and dad wanted for me now will we? And its my life Winry, and I'll live it how I like."

With that Ling turned and ran down the rest of the stairs and out the front door, slamming it behind him.

Winry looked at the door that her brother had just stormed through. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, but she swiftly forced them away.

"They were your parents too, and you know it. That's why you're doing this to yourself, and us."

Winry went down to the kitchen where Riza was eating breakfast, and barely before she had managed to say "Good morning" and grab a piece of toast, there was a knock at the door.

"That'll be Paninya, I'll see you tonight Aunt Riza," said Winry as she stuffed the toast in her mouth and rushed to the door, grabbing her coat and bag from the hall.

"Ling is going to get himself killed on that damn bike of his, I almost ran straight into him as he shot of the drive!" bemoaned the dark, black-haired girl at the door.

"And a good morning to you too, Paninya," Winry said through a mouthful of toast.

Paninya was Winry's best friend, they had met years before when Winry had visited her parents at the surgery during an emergency in which Paninya had been involved. Paninya had lost her legs in a train crash and had come to her parents' for immediate surgery and Winry had followed their new found friendship to Paninya's Automail mechanic Dominic, who fitted the poor girl with new legs to walk upon. Since then the pair had been firm friends and Winry had often gone with Paninya to her tune ups, partly as support for her friend, and partly to check out Dominic's Automail shop. The pair got into Paninya's car and headed to college. Paninya was the only one of their circle of friends lucky enough to own a car, the prize of working for the entire summer, so therefore she was also unlucky enough to have to play taxi driver for her friends.

"You sure you're up to this Winry?" asked Paninya as she fastened her seat belt. "You know we can walk if you want."

"I have to get used to being in a car again. I can't spend the rest of my life afraid of driving, besides, Dad would kill me if he knew all those driving lessons had gone to waste!" Winry giggled nervously. The reason Winry hadn't been in Paninya's new car yet, indeed, very few cars in the last six months, was because her parents had died in a car crash, and Winry had been in the car with them. They had been driving home when the car skidded off the road, off the bridge, and into the river. Her parents had been knocked unconscious, and Winry was losing it, when she was pulled from the car. She had fainted as she tasted fresh air, and by the time she had regained consciousness the emergency services had arrived and her parent's bodies were being pulled from the river.

Talk soon turned to the latest college gossip as they drove into town, but they were suddenly cut off when something collided with the windscreen.

"Oh my God, what the hell was that?" Paninya screeched as they skidded to a halt.

"I think it was a crow," panted Winry. "What on earth was a crow doing flying that low in town?"

"I don't know Little Miss Ornithologist. I'm just glad its not a child or something! Are you OK?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

"Well I can't see it lying in the road or anything. You sure you're OK?"

"Paninya I'm fine. Now let's get to college before we're late."

As Paninya drove off the two girls failed to notice the crow that now sat atop a road sign and watched them drive down the street.

* * *

"WINRY!" came a high-pitched shriek as a body collided into Winry and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Oh my God, Winry, I heard all about this morning, are you OK? Is she OK?" the brown-haired green-eyed hugger turned to Paninya, who just stared at the two girls dumbfounded.

"Uh, Elicia, if you let me go and allow me to breathe, I might be able to tell you how I am myself."

"Oh, sorry, Winry," Elicia Hughes let Winry out of her embrace but still held her shoulders. Elicia was the daughter of Risembool's sheriff, who doted on her and was ever so slightly over-protective of her, and she was another of Winry's oldest friends. As the Rockbell's and the Hughes' were two of Risembool's founding families Winry and Elicia had had to attend more than their fair share of formal events, and had found refuge from these boring affairs by forging a strong friendship.

"Now what is supposed to have happened this morning?"

"The incident on your drive in, a bird or something, hit the windscreen?"

"Well, that's pretty much it Elicia," answered Winry.

"A crow flew into my car as I was driving us into college, thats all." Paninya seemed unconcerned by Elicia's over-reaction, having grown used to them and their almost daily occurrences. "How on earth did you know that anyway? We've literally only just arrived!"

"Well, Selim Bradley was driving ahead of you and saw something in his rear-view mirror, and then he told me when he got here."

Both Winry and Paninya rolled their eyes. Of course Mayor Bradley's son, the most stereotypical jack-ass you could think of, would be telling everybody that Winry Rockbell had been involved in another incident in a car. The three girls walked into the building, heading towards the student's common room, when all three stopped in their tracks.

"Hold the phone," said Paninya. "Who's the sexy new guy?" Their attention was focused on a young man with short blond hair in dark clothes who had just stepped out of the student services office and appeared to be consulting a map before walking away from them down the corridor.

"Now that is one sexy back!" exclaimed Winry.

"Winry! You said you're not interested in guys, leave him to me!" said Elicia as she headed after the owner of the back.

"Uh, I don't believe I ever actually said that! And even if I did I can still look!" Winry and Paninya hurried after Elicia, desperate to both stop her making a fool of herself and to catch up with the alluring new student to talk to themselves.

* * *

"During the Ishval Campaign even our own small town of Risembool wasn't immune from the horrors of war," Mr Kimbley droned on somewhat too enthusiastically. It was well known that the history lecturer was fascinated by warfare, and would have joined the military had he not failed the psychological exam, which often caused students to wonder how on earth he had landed a job as a teacher.

"In 1863 State Alchemists were first sent into Ishval as part of the, some say controversial, extermination campaign, and so in retaliation Ishvalan terrorists determined to raze Risembool to the ground, and very nearly succeeded. Now, can anyone tell me how many casualties resulted from the ensuing battle? Miss Bennet?" Mr Kimbley looked doubtfully at Paninya.

"Um, a lot? I'm not sure of the exact number but like a whole battalion or something."

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Miss Bennet. Winry, perhaps you, as a founding family member, would know something so important in our town's history?"

"I'm sorry, Mr Kimbley, I'm afraid I don't know."

"Miss Rockbell, last year, for obvious reasons, I was willing to be lenient, but I think by now you ought to be able to apply yourself a little more."

"There were 346 casualties, unless you're counting civilians," piped up the owner of the sexy back, sitting one place behind and to the right of Winry. She turned to face him, and found herself thanking the most beautiful pair of golden eyes she'd ever seen.

Mr Kimbley looked in surprise and amusement at his new student. "My, my. That's correct, Mr?"

"Elric," answered Alphonse.

"Elric?" mused Mr Kimbley. "I don't suppose you're any relation to the original settlers of Risembool?"

Alphonse chuckled to himself. "Distant."

"Well, that's very good Mr Elric, except that, due to good fortune and poor planning on the part of the Ishvalans, there were mercifully no civilian casualties." Mr Kimbley turned away from Alphonse, looking back at the white board, about to launch into his next stint of history before Alphonse piped up.

"Actually there were 27 civilian casualties. Ishvalan terrorists set fire to the church because they believed weapons and vital supplies might be stored there, but they were wrong. It was a night of terrible loss. Its all in the Founders' Records that are stored in the Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr Kimbley."

The whole class gasped and ooed in admiration of Alphonse. Everyone disliked Mr Kimbley and loved it when on a rare occasion someone got one up on him. Mr Kimbley in turn gave Alphonse a death glare and continued with his lecture. Winry looked at Alphonse and mouthed "Thank you". Alphonse replied with a slight smile that lit up his whole face and mouthed "Your welcome" back.

**BOOM! Take that Mr Kimbley! I like writing Kimbley actually... he's fun. Not as much fun as evil, lovesick, vampire Ed though! ;)**


	5. Chapter Four: Graveyards and Parties

**Sorry this took a while, life got in the way a bit. Anyway, this is going to be a looooong chapter, due to the fact that this took me several days and several re-watches of the pilot episode of TVD to write and I wanted/needed to get a fair amount of detail and story progression into this chapter. So I got high on Ben and Jerry's Phish Food, watched a LOT of FMA, FMAB and The Vampire Diaries, and listened to McFly on repeat whilst drinking copious amounts of tea in order to get some writing out of me before I exploded in a horrible ice-cream-filled-nerd mess. **

Chapter Four

Graveyards and Parties

Winry walked home by herself again that afternoon, having finished college earlier than Paninya, who still had a lecture and a seminar to attend. This time, however, instead of walking past the surgery, she decided to visit the cemetery and pay her parents' a visit. Winry would often come down to her parents' grave; sometimes she would talk to them for hours about the most mundane things, sometimes if she was upset she would shout and scream at their headstone, angry at them for leaving her, but most often she would just sit in silence and think. Settling down in front of the Rockbell's grave Winry took out her notebook and continued a sketch of a new design of Automail leg she was working on. Whenever Winry was working on her Automail projects she became completely engrossed in her work, so she failed to notice the mist that was slowly creeping across the cemetery towards her. Despite the fact it was the middle of the afternoon and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, the mist continued to roll out and thicken into a fog. A crow alighted onto her parents' headstone, croaking at her indignantly.

"Hello bird," said Winry absentmindedly, still engrossed in her notebook. The crow croaked at her again, and again. Annoyed at the bird for interrupting her quiet time Winry stood up and shooed it away; it flew over to a carved angel, still cawing at her. That was when Winry noticed the fog. Feeling unnerved she gathered up her things and began to walk away, when she noticed a dark figure shrouded by the fog, creeping out from behind the angel where the crow was still making a racket. Although she couldn't see a face she knew the figure was watching her, and very much afraid now she started off across the cemetery. Coming to the main path she tripped over a tree root and fell at the feet of the boy who had saved her from Mr Kimbley in history.

"Are you alright?" he asked, helping her to her feet. Winry held onto his soft hand a little longer than she probably should have.

"Yeah, I think so. Well, no, actually," she began to blurt out. "There was this bird, a crow or something, that just kept cawing at me, and then there was this fog that just appeared out of nowhere, which in a graveyard is a bit more than creepy. Then I saw a figure in the fog, which is definitely more than creepy when you add that with everything else, so I started to run for the path, but then I must've tripped on a root, and then I fell at your feet." Winry stopped realising how crazy she sounded.

"Well, it was lucky I was here to pick you up then," the blonde smiled at her, his golden eyes shining in the autumn sun. The fog had mysteriously disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"What, you hang around in cemeteries waiting to rescue damsels in distress?"

"Actually I was visiting. I have family here."

Winry inwardly squirmed. "Oh, I'm sorry, of course. Why else would you be here? God that was tactless of me, I'm sorry. Can we start over? I'm Winry. Winry Rockbell." Winry offered him her hand and he took it.

"Alphonse Elric. And its a pleasure to meet you." A delicious smell was creeping into Alphonse's nose, filling his thoughts with hunger. "Are you sure you're OK? You took quite a tumble over that root."

Winry had noticed a stinging in her leg and bent down to roll up her jean's leg to find a large cut just above her ankle. The smell suddenly quadrupled in intensity; hitting Alphonse like a train, he had turn away as his features began to change.

"You should go, get that patched up. It looks bad."

"No, its OK. It looks worse than it is, my parents were doctors so..." Winry stopped in mid-sentence as she looked up to find Alphonse had disappeared.

Across town at the bar where all the local youths spent most of their free time, the Risembool Bistro, Elicia was thoroughly boring Paninya with all the information she had managed to dig up on the new guy in town.

"His name's Alphonse Elric and he's living in the old Elric Manor, having found out that he's a distant relative of the Elric's that originally settled here and he's inherited the house. Although I can't imagine that Elric's a common name so you'd've thought he'd have realised he was related to them. But that could be because he's from a military family, so they moved around a lot so can't have had much opportunity for family gatherings so he probably wouldn't know he was related. Anyway he's a Pisces, his favourite colour is blue and he loves cats."

Paninya brought her head up from where she had been resting it on the table and looked at Elicia with a mix of boredom and awe.

"You got all of that in one day?"

"No! I got all of that between history and English. We're planning a June wedding."

"Like your dad would allow that!" Paninya snorted. It was well known in the town how overprotective Sheriff Hughes was of his daughter. Prospective boyfriends would often be faced with a loaded gun instead of the reluctant handshake of most fathers.

"So long as it made me happy Daddy would allow it." Elicia thought for a moment. "He'd be upset about it, but so long as I was happy... Ohmigod, Russell Tringham just walked in!"

Elicia turned away from the door through which Russell and Winry walked in laughing.

"Is he looking at me? Is he coming over?" Elicia asked Paninya, sweat beginning to bead on her forehead.

"Er, no. He's meeting Selim Bradley, but Winry's coming over. Looking very happy with herself I must say." Paninya smiled as her friend joined them.

"Is it a crime for a girl to look happy with herself?" asked Winry mock-offendedly.

"When she's walking in with Elicia's fancy piece, yes!" Paninya laughed.

"He is NOT my 'fancy piece' as you eloquently put it, Paninya!"

"Not yet anyway," Winry said grinning.

"If you two are just going to sit there and mock me I'm going to go home now," Elicia said rising from the table. "Besides I have to go get ready for the party tonight, it'll take me at least an hour to persuade Daddy to let me go. I'll see you guys later." Elicia left the bistro trying not to look like she was looking at Russell playing pool, but failed miserably as he smiled at her as she passed. Elicia turned bright red and hurried out the door, leaving Russell to wonder if he had somehow upset her.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked Selim.

"Of course you did, man. You're a guy, she's a girl, you're gunna be in the wrong!" replied Selim, as he made the break.

"Thanks for the advice."

"So my mum told me to go see your Grandmother because she's into the whole psychic thing. Winry? Are you listening to me or Russell?"

Winry snapped out of her daze. "Oh, sorry, Paninya. I zoned out for a minute. What were you saying?"

"Do I have to repeat myself? Mum's been doing some research into our family tree and she found out that we're related to some women who were tried and executed for being witches, and I was really interested so I thought I'd do some more research into the matter and I think I'm psychic!"

"Psychic? Seriously?" Winry asked dubiously.

"Yeah, I mean I've predicted loads of stuff correctly; Elicia and Russell, Kimbley and the attacks on Briggs by Drachma. So mum suggested I go talk to your Grandmother, being as she's supposed to be psychic and all. What do you think?"

Winry held up three fingers and began to count down. "First, Elicia and Russell haven't happened yet. We all know it will, but it is yet to happen. Second, anyone could have found out that Kimbley had applied to be a State Alchemist by going through the school records, which I hasten to add, you did! And third," Winry paused. "OK I don't have one for the Briggs thing, that was weird, there was no way you could have known about that, but that doesn't prove you're psychic! But if you want to go talk to Grandma about it by all means pay her a visit. She'd love to see you I'm sure."

"Alright then, I'll give her a call before the party. Speaking of which, we better get going, we must beautify ourselves for the ball!"

"In that case we should've started getting ready an hour ago!" Winry and Paninya made to leave when Winry saw Ling coming out of the men's room, looking rather the worse for wear. Paninya graciously went to wait outside while Winry stormed over to her brother.

"I don't believe you Ling Yao, its only 4 o'clock in the afternoon and you look like you've been out all night! What have you been taking?"

"Oh, lighten up Winry, I've only been smoking a bit of weed! Even you, little Miss Perfect's smoked pot, so don't start preaching to me!"

"Ling, I'm just trying to look out for you. I don't want you to hurt yourself. Did you go to work today?"

"Of course."

"In that state?"

"Of course not! You think I'd be stupid enough to get high while I'm working on people's cars? I'll see you later Winry."

With that Ling sauntered off after Rose Thomas, who was working the bar. Winry looked after her brother worriedly, before heading out the door after Paninya.

"Your sister giving you grief again?" Rose asked Ling as she cleared tables.

"Yeah, I thought she'd gotten over it as she hadn't said anything to me in a while. Guess she's getting on her high horse again. I'm just grateful Aunt Riza hasn't been on my case yet."

"Winry'll get over it eventually. Or get bored of nagging you." Rose looked around the quiet bistro to be sure they weren't being watched, her eyes darting from side to side beneath her pink bangs. "You got anymore stuff?"

"Yeah, sure," Ling searched his pockets and brought out a clear packet of white pills which he handed to Rose. "Don't take more than two in six hours or you'll..." Ling stopped halfway through his sentence as Rose swallowed three pills and shrugged.

"Need them to get through this damn shift."

"Now that's why I love you!" Ling laughed, leaning in to kiss her, only for Rose to push him away.

"What the hell Ling?"

Ling looked hurt, "What? I thought..."

"We hooked up a few times in a drug haze, that doesn't mean we're an item! Bloody hell, I'd've kissed a horse the states I was in!"

"Well, I didn't think we had anything, _serious_, going on, but I thought we could still fool around!"

"Not while I'm sober Ling," Rose stated walking over to collect Selim and Russell's empty glasses.

Later that evening Winry was frantically searching her room for her notebook, hoping that she had lost it somewhere in the house and not at the cemetery as she feared. She'd been thoroughly freaked out that afternoon and had no intentions of returning to the cemetery alone anytime soon. As she was rummaging through her pile of clean, and now very creased, clothes she heard the doorbell. Cursing, she went to answer the door, but Winry soon forgot her curses and sent thanks to the heavens instead, for standing in her doorway was Alphonse Elric.

"Hi," she said, desperately trying to make herself look presentable without drawing attention to herself. Failing miserably, Alphonse was fully aware of her rather tousled appearance and found her all the more beautiful for it."What brings you here?"

"Well, I wanted to apologize for my disappearing act earlier," Alphonse answered in that sweet, gentle voice of his. "I know it was... strange."

"Oh, don't worry about it! I guessed that maybe blood makes you squeamish."

"Yeah. Something like that. How is your leg?"

"All cleaned up and dressed now. It wasn't a deep cut so it shouldn't take too long to heal. Don't think I'm complaining here, but how did you know where I lived?"

"Well, its a small town and apparently Rockbell is a well known name. I just asked the first person I saw. I had another reason for calling though, I wanted to return this to you." He held out her notebook. "I found it in the cemetery, and thought you'd probably want it back."

Winry took the notebook from him and smiled. "Thank you so much, Alphonse. I've been going frantic trying to find this. I thought perhaps I had left it in the cemetery, but I really didn't want to go back tonight and look for it, after the weird fog thing."

"You're welcome. And please call me Al. I find Alphonse too formal."

Winry smiled, then a sudden thought struck her. "Hey! You know there's a big party tonight, loads of people from college are going, it would be great if you could come Al! It'd be a great chance to meet people, and I can introduce you to my friends! Please say you'll come!"

"I'd be delighted," Alphonse smiled.

"Great, I'll just fetch the address for you."

Alphonse stood at the threshold while Winry ran into the kitchen and scribbled an address on a scrap of paper. She returned a few seconds later and handed it to Alphonse.

"It's just on the outskirts of town, by the woods. You can't miss it, it's huge."

"I'll see you later tonight, then. Winry."

"I look forward to it. Al."

Alphonse left, and Winry closed the door behind her, wearing the largest smile she ever had in her life.

Every resident of Risembool aged between 16 and 26 seemed to have turned up to Heymans Breda's party. It had been intended as a small gathering of friends to celebrate his promotion to a second lieutenant, but, as one person had then invited another and they in turn invited someone else, it had escalated into a huge house party. Winry and Paninya were in the garden, which backed straight onto the woods, where Winry was filling Paninya in on everything that had happened with Alphonse that afternoon.

"So, where is he then?" Paninya asked her friend sceptically.

"I don't know, you tell me. You're the one who's supposed to be psychic!" Winry laughed.

"Well I can't just tell you these things willy-nilly! Your Grandma said I need to concentrate."

"Hang on a sec, you need a crystal ball," Winry handed Paninya her beer bottle, and as Paninya touched Winry's hand taking it, she froze.

"Woah, that was weird," she said shaking her head.

"What?"

"When I touched you, I saw a crow," Winry's eyes went wide with shock. "And fog, and a dark figure... Heh, don't listen to me I'm drunk, its totally the drink talking, nothing psychic or anything!"

"Yeah, yeah. If you say so." Winry sounded worried. How could Paninya possibly have known about the fog and the figure? She hadn't told anyone about it, other than Alphonse, and as far as she was aware he hadn't met Paninya yet. Winry's face suddenly lit up with delight as she saw Alphonse walking towards them, but he was abruptly halted by Elicia, who seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

"Hi there! I'm Elicia Hughes," she said offering her hand, which Alphonse graciously took, introducing himself. "I hear you're new in town so I thought I'd come and say hello, you looked quite lonely too all by yourself."

"Actually I'm meeting someone," Alphonse interrupted her before she could continue, and nodded over to Winry, who, along with Paninya, was coming to his rescue.

"Al, you made it! This is Paninya Bennett, and I can see you've met Elicia."

"So you're the mysterious Alphonse Elric," Paninya smiled. "You're the talk of the town you know."

Alphonse looked worried. "Really?" he stammered.

"Oh, don't worry, its nothing bad. Just that you're new in town, and you've taken up residence in the Elric Manor."

Alphonse let out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. "Yes. I sort of inherited it, as I'm a relative of the original family." He smiled at his white lie, although he thought of it more as a bending of the truth. He was a relative of the original family; they didn't have to know that he was actually the undead 164 year old son of the original family.

"Anyway, I decided to come and see what the place was like, and so far I like what I see. I think I might be staying a while." He smiled at Winry, who smiled back.

"Do you have any family Alphonse?" Paninya asked.

"My parents died a while back," Alphonse said solemnly.

"Oh, Alphonse! I'm sorry!" Paninya looked thoroughly ashamed of herself.

"Don't worry about it, you weren't to know. It happened years ago."

Winry, however, could see that even though their deaths might have been a long time ago, it still hurt him. Did she have that look about her too? Would she always have that look?

"I'm sorry," she said. "My parents died a few months ago, too. I know how hard it is."

Alphonse smiled at her sadly. "I'm sorry."

Trying to lighten the mood, Elicia piped up. "Any siblings to speak of?" By siblings she meant brothers.

"None that I speak to."

"So what classes are you taking at college?" Paninya made a significantly better job of lightening the mood. "I saw you in history with Winry and I. Nice job knocking Kimbley down a peg or two, by the way."

"Thank you, it was nothing." Alphonse chuckled. "I hate it when people are convinced they're right when they're actually blatantly wrong. I'm also taking chemistry, biology and alchemy."

"You're an alchemist?" Winry asked, impressed.

"No, I just study alchemy. I'd love to be able to practice it though." The same sad look that he'd had when he mentioned his parents came upon Alphonse's face.

"I thought anyone could do alchemy," Elicia blurted out, significantly drunker than she had been at the start of the conversation.

"In principle, not everyone has the knack for it though. My father was a great alchemist, I guess I just don't have his talent."

Whilst the girls had been talking to Alphonse, Ling had been keeping tabs on Rose, who had, in his opinion, been spending far too much time with Selim Bradley.

"Come on, Rose, there's something I wanna show you," Selim said, taking her hand and leading her away from the party.

"What, we have to go into the woods to see it?" Rose moaned, still high on the pills Ling had given her earlier. She had by now almost finished the entire packet. "The party's back at the house Selim!"

"Trust me, Rose, you're going to love it."

Selim pushed her not very gently against a tree and began kissing her roughly.

"OK, Selim, stop it," she said, a hint of fear about her voice.

"Shhh, just relax"

"No, seriously Selim, get off! I don't want to do this here! Selim, stop it!"

"Oh my god, Rose Thomas says no!" Selim laughed. "Like you don't want this, you've been flirting with me all evening, you're gagging for it!"

"She said stop it!" Ling rushed in, pushing Selim off of Rose. He had followed the pair into the woods, fearing a scenario like this. Unfortunately he hadn't planned what he was going to do _after_ he told Selim to stop.

"You got a problem, Ling?"

"Yeah, I do actually." He sounded braver than he felt. "Rose told you to stop, and you didn't. I don't like that."

Rose stepped between the two, hoping to stop a fight before it began.

"Ling, leave it. I can handle this."

"No, you can't Rose. He almost raped you!"

"You're so not worth this hassle, Thomas. You're welcome to the little slut, Ling."

Selim stormed off, whilst Ling walked over to Rose.

"Are you alright, Rose?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you Ling. I could have handled that, but you just had to waltz in and ruin any chance of me getting with Selim!"

"But, he was attacking you! I don't get you Rose, he's only after you for one thing, and that proved it! What the hell do you see in him?"

"Something I don't see in you." Rose went off after Selim, leaving Ling standing confused, not noticing the mist that was forming amongst the trees.

Alphonse had been left alone with Elicia again, as Winry and Paninya had gone to freshen up. Elicia had started to go with them, but had somehow found her way back to Alphonse. She was on at least her fourth beer of the night, and from what Alphonse could see, she couldn't handle her drink very well.

"So, now that we're alone, do you fancy going somewhere... quieter?" she giggled, losing her balance and almost falling on Alphonse. Gallantly he held her up, and, perhaps not so gallantly he told her straight how he felt about her.

"Elicia, you're a lovely girl, really. But you and me, its not going to happen. I'm sorry."

Elicia looked both surprised and crestfallen. "Oh, no its OK. I get it. I'm sorry, I'm sorry I made a fool of myself." She walked away, tears forming in her eyes. Alphonse was about to go after her and explain himself better, when he was approached by a young man who offered his hand and, more importantly, a beer.

"Hey, I'm Russell."

"Alphonse Elric," Alphonse shook his hand and took a swig from the beer. "You're Russell Tringham, right?"

"Winry's told you about me already I see."

"She said you were a good friend, you helped her through her parents' death."

"Yeah, Winry's one of my oldest friends, she's like a sister to me, and I can see that she likes you, and you like her. I can't be there for her all the time what with work and my mum and brother out in East City, so I think it'd be good for her to have someone like you in her life, someone to look after her." Russell looked right at Alphonse, his right eye, which would have been shining silver like his left, was obscured by his blonde hair, making him appear more threatening. "But I'm telling you now, as her friend, if you do anything to hurt her, I'll be on your ass so quick you won't know what hit you."

"I promise you, Russell, I would never, _ever_, hurt Winry, emotionally or physically."

"Good. Now that we understand each other, I hope we can be friends." Russell and Alphonse clinked bottles in agreement. "You play rugby, Alphonse?"

Rose was walking deeper into the woods, now completely disorientated.

"Selim! Where are you?" She shouted as a fog rolled in around her. "I'm sorry about before!"

A twig snapped behind Rose, who turned to face the sound. "Selim, is that you?"

A shrub was disturbed by someone walking past, causing Rose to spin round again.

"Selim, seriously this isn't funny!" The fog was getting thicker, and the air getting chillier. Rose could hear noises all around her now, the already nerve-wracking situation made all the more scary by the fact she was still high. Rose started to panic, wanting to get away from the woods and the fog and the noises, but before she could go anywhere someone grabbed her, she screamed and her world went black.

Just as Winry came back out to the party she saw Ling sat alone at a picnic bench, nursing a black eye.

"Shit, Ling, did you get into a fight?" Winry chided her brother.

"Seriously, Winry I don't need this right now. And to answer your question, no I didn't get into a fight. I walked into a branch." Ling looked thoroughly embarrassed, and Winry couldn't help but giggle. Bending down she inspected his eye.

"That looks bad. Come on, I'm taking you home, you need to get some ice on that."

"Winry, if I want to go home and put ice on it I will, now will you just leave me alone?" Ling got up and headed off into the woods.

"Oh no, not this time, Ling. We are going home _now_." Winry followed her brother into the shadows of the trees.

"So you can tell Aunt Riza how I've been smoking weed and walking into tree branches? Fat chance! Oomph!" Ling tripped over something lying in the path. Looking down to see what it was he felt his heart skip a beat. "Rose?"

Rose Thomas was laying, still as a corpse, across the bath, blood flowing freely from a wound on her neck.

"Oh my god," Winry froze as she saw the girl, and began reaching for her phone in order to call for help. Suddenly a terrified gasp escaped Rose's lips, and she clung onto Ling, looking at him with terrified eyes.

"Its OK, Rose, we're going to get you help." Ling lifted her from the ground and carried her back to the party, Winry rushing ahead.

"We need help here! Someone call an ambulance!" she called as she got back to the house. Ling followed closely after, laying Rose down on the picnic bench he had occupied a few minutes earlier. The party was soon forgotten and everyone was watching Rose, Winry and Ling. Luckily someone had the sense to call the emergency services, whilst Winry found some towels to try and staunch Rose's bleeding.

"What the hell happened?" cried Selim as he made his way to Rose's side. Ling immediately swang for him.

"Why the hell do you care? For all we know you're the one who did this!"

"Me? Shit, man, how the hell could I do that?" He pointed to Rose's neck. "That's an animal attack man."

"All right, you two, calm down and give Rose some space, this isn't helping!" Winry quickly took control of the situation.

Alphonse, like most of the party-goers, was staring at Rose. More importantly, he was staring at Rose's neck. Taking advantage of the confusion and the hubbub, so as not to draw attention to himself, he slipped quietly away before the authorities arrived.

Alphonse rushed home, hoping beyond hope he was wrong and Edward had left town already. He knew he was wrong, he knew Edward was the one who had attacked Rose, and now he had to get rid of him. Before he hurt anyone else; before he hurt Winry. Outside he heard a crow cawing, odd for this time of night, thought Alphonse as he opened his bedroom door and saw an ominous shadow cast upon the floor.

"Hello again, brother," said the suspiciously sweet voice of Edward. He was standing by Alphonse's window, almost glowing in the moonlight that shone through it.

"Don't you think the crow's a bit much, Ed?" asked Alphonse blithely.

Edward chuckled. "Wait until you see what I can do with the fog."

"You left that girl alive tonight Edward, that was careless of you."

"Yeah, that could be a problem. For you."

"Why are you here Edward?"

"Oh I don't think its time to tell you that yet. I know why you're here though, and I think it can be summed up in one little word: Winry."

"Don't you dare bring her into this. She's innocent; she doesn't need to be dragged into this!"

"Oh come on, Al, I think we both know she's going to find out sooner or later. But if its going to be later, you're going to need to compel her, which means you're going to need to feed. I saw loads of hot girls out there tonight, Al, what's say you and I go hunting and have ourselves a little midnight feast, huh? Or better yet, we could have Winry..."

"Stop it, Ed!"

"Imagine what her blood tastes like Alphonse!" Edward taunted. "Imagine her sweet, delicious blood dripping from your fangs, rolling on your tongue and sliding down your throat! I can taste it already."

"ENOUGH!" snarled Alphonse. He launched himself at his brother, taking him slightly by surprise, and sending them both through the window. The brothers landed in a heap on the front yard; Edward immediately got up, dusting himself off and laughing, while Alphonse still recovered from the fall.

"I'm impressed Al! I'd give you a six, for effort, you're still lacking on style, but I'm pleasantly surprised! I loved the whole evil face thing you had going on, really good."

Alphonse managed to stagger to his feet and faced his brother. "Its all fun and games to you, isn't it Ed? But people die, wherever you go, people die!"

"That's a given."

"Well not here, not in Risembool. I won't allow it."

"It's not a case of what _you _will and won't allow, Alphonse! I take that as an invitation."

"Edward," Alphonse gasped. He seemed to be struggling for breath. "Please, after all these years, can't we just put the past behind us and give it a rest?"

Edward walked right up beside his younger brother and whispered into his ear.

"I promised you an _eternity_ of misery," Edward stabbed Alphonse in the stomach with a piece of shattered window. "I'm just keeping my promise."

Alphonse fell to his knees, gasping in pain as Edward walked calmly away into the night.

**Oooo, cliffhanger! You're probably going to ask "how do I know Alphonse is a Pisces?". Well I don't, because Arakawa-sensei hasn't told us Alphonse's birthday, so I decided to make Alphonse a Pisces because I'm a Pisces (whoop whoop!). Also because working out when Alphonse's birthday could be, the most likely answer is sometime between January and March. Edward's birthday is 3rd February (making him an Aquarius), and so the earliest Alphonse could have been conceived is April, but I'd rather give Trisha a decent rest, while still allowing for the brothers to be, most of the time, a year apart in age, so he was conceived in the June, resulting in a March birth. Reviews greatly appreciated.**


	6. Chapter Five: Just the Beginning

**Wow, fast update! ****Don't expect that too often! ^^; This chapter just demanded to be written so that I could get back into some more action-y chapters. That and the Ed/Damon combo I've created in my head forced me to write so I could write about him sooner. *Selfish pig* Ed/Damon: I heard that! I live in your head so you can't expect to think things and not have me hear them! Me: Damn. See? He's just too clever for me. Ed/Damon: Damn straight. Me: Anyway moving swiftly on... Thank you to my reviewers cherry-888 and siriusambition (awesome name btw!) I'm really glad that you're enjoying this story; I'm hoping that I'm not relying too heavily on the Vampire Diaries story and am successfully putting an FMA twist on things, so your feedback is greatly appreciated! Siriusambition: I was worried I wasn't doing a great job with portraying the characters, either making them seem too OOC or not giving them much character at all, but its nice to know I'm doing something right! Hopefully you won't have to wait too long for Roy and Olivia to appear, I have the main plot all worked out so that I can, hopefully, get to the juicy stuff ASAP! **

Chapter Five

Just the Beginning

The ambulance arrived and the paramedics quickly dressed Rose's wound. Putting her on a stretcher and loading her into the back, Russell offering to go with her, they set off with blue lights flashing and sirens wailing.

"Winry, are you OK?" Paninya came over and hugged her friend.

"Yeah, I think so. Look, I've got to get Ling home, he's really upset. You OK to get Elicia home?"

"Sure. Listen, Winry, I'm not psychic. I'm not clairvoyant, I can't see into the future. I don't know if what I saw before was real or not, but I do know that what happened tonight, it's just the beginning. Be careful, alright?"

"Yeah, of course I will. Have you seen Alphonse?"

"No, he disappeared. Will you call Riza to come and get you? I don't want you walking home by yourself."

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you tomorrow." Winry hugged her friend goodbye and went to find Ling, who was sitting on the veranda chugging down a beer.

"Ling? Come on, we're going home. I'm going to call Aunt Riza to come get us."

Ling barely nodded in response. Winry sat down next to her brother.

"Ling, I know what you're going through because I'm going through it too, but you have to realise that people are going to stop giving you breaks. They've got their own lives to lead, their own problems to worry about, so they've forgotten that our parents died. The rest of the world has moved on. You need to try moving on too."

Ling looked at Winry, tears in his eyes, and hugged her.

* * *

Once the ambulance had taken Rose to the hospital, and police were searching the woods with dogs for whomever, or whatever, had attacked her, the party had very suddenly dissipated. Paninya had taken Elicia to the Risembool Bistro before her father had found her, drunk as a skunk, to save her from a tirade about how he would never let her out of the house again because the world was too dangerous for her. She was now practically forcing coffee down Elicia's throat in an attempt to sober her up.

"Elicia this is your sixth coffee! You must be sober by now?"

Elicia looked up at Paninya, desperately trying to feel sober, and failing. "Nope."

"Come on, Elicia! You're going to bankrupt me. Besides its ridiculously late now, I need to get you home before your dad freaks. I need to get _me_ home too." Caught in the swing of the party, Paninya had completely forgotten she'd driven there and after several beers would now face a long walk home; and a long walk in the morning to pick her car up.

"Why didn't he go for me?" Elicia suddenly piped up.

"Oh, Elicia, don't start that!"

Ignoring Paninya she continued, slightly slurring her words. "Why is it that guys I'm interested in never go for me? I try so hard! I mean is it because I'm inappropriate and I always say the wrong things? And yet Winry somehow can say the right things and without even trying he just picks her! And its not just boys, its everything! Winry gets picked for everything, and I never get picked for anything."

"It's not a competition you know Elicia."

"Yes it is."

"Right. Well, on that note, I've got to pay a visit to the little girls room. Keep drinking that coffee!"

Paninya went off to the bathroom, revealing a handsome young man sitting at the next table. His sparkling golden eyes met Elicia's and he smiled warmly at her. Caught in their web, Elicia smiled back at the man with long blonde hair.

* * *

As soon as Winry had called Riza she came to collect them, and they drove home in gloomy silence. Ling had immediately gone up to his room when they arrived home, and after reassuring Riza that she was fine Winry too retired to her bedroom. Riza was of course still worried about Ling, and went up to check on him. Peering through his open door she could see him sitting at his desk with his back to her, a picture of his parents in his hands. She gently knocked on his door, and entered with a mug of tea, placing it on his desk. Putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder she said "I miss them too, you know. Your mum was my best friend, and I still can't believe that I'm never going to see her again, but you know she's always there, right here." She touched his chest, right above his heart. "And you know that I'm here for you too. Don't shut me out, Ling. I promised your mum I'd take care of you, and I've never broken a promise to her."

Riza went to leave, and just as she got to the door, she heard Ling answer. "Thanks for the tea, Aunt Riza."

She smiled to herself, and shut the door behind her.

* * *

Alphonse had pulled the glass shard from his stomach, and after a few moments the wound had completely healed. But he was still weak, he needed to feed in order to regain his strength. Luckily he had stored a few bottles of animal blood in his fridge in case of emergencies, and so, staggering slightly, he made his way back indoors to the kitchen. After finishing off a litre of blood Alphonse felt a lot better, and made his way up to his room. The events of the last few hours had shaken him, and he needed to clear his thoughts by writing in his journal, something he hadn't done in a while. Pulling his journal from the very full shelf of leather-bound books he noticed a piece of paper fall to the floor. Picking it up Alphonse realised it was photograph; a photograph he'd forgotten he had, and one that he only seen a few days before. It was from 1864, and looking back out at him was an image of Winry Rockbell, albeit with her hair tied up in a beautiful and complicated arrangement and wearing an old-fashioned dress. But the girl in the picture wasn't Winry Rockbell; her name was Winry Pierce. Putting the picture aside Alphonse sat his desk and began to write. Unbeknownst to him, Winry Rockbell was also writing in her diary.

"_Dear Diary, I couldn't have been more wrong. I thought I would be able to smile and nod my way through the day, pretending that it would all be OK._

_I had a plan, I wanted to change who I was; create a life as someone new, someone without the past. _

_Without the pain._

_Someone alive._

_But it's not that easy. The bad things stay with you._

_They follow you. You can't escape them, as much as you'd like to._

_All you can do is be ready for the good, so that when comes you invite it in, because you need it. I need it._

Winry had dozed off sitting by her window, but something woke her up, and she looked out onto her drive to see Alphonse standing there, looking as if he was unsure whether to knock on her door or not. So she made the decision for him, rushing downstairs and opening the front door.

"Hey," Winry smiled.

"Hi," Alphonse smiled back, but still looked slightly awkward. "I know it's late, but... I needed to know that you were OK."

"Do you know, for months now, that's all anybody's wondered about me. If I'm OK."

"What do you tell them?"

"That I'll be fine."

"Do you ever mean it?"

"Ask me that tomorrow." Winry looked at Alphonse, standing there in the cold night, the moonlight shining off his blonde hair and pale skin. He looked the handsomest she'd seen him, yet at the same time he had never looked more vulnerable. "Its warmer in the house, we can talk. Would you like to come in, Al?"

He smiled then, as honest and happy a smile as there ever was, and the vulnerability faded away.

"Yes," he answered, and stepped into the Rockbell's house.

* * *

At the hospital Rose had been given a private room, and Russell was asleep in the chair next to her bed. He had stayed with her and had the hospital put him down as next of kin, because as far as he was aware, she had none. Rose lived alone just down the street from him, and though there were often young men visiting her, he had never seen anyone that could be a relative visit, or even heard her talk about her family. He supposed it was his over-active sense of duty and self-sacrifice that made him stay, he always had to look out for others before himself. Upon arriving at the hospital Rose had immediately been given a blood transfusion, and almost as quickly been sedated because she kept screaming and thrashing, ripping out her IVs. A nurse had then been able to thoroughly clean and dress her wound and she had been attached to a heart monitor, which beeped away monotonously, lulling Russell to sleep. Shortly after 1am Rose began to stir, waking Russell who instantly went to reassure her.

"Where am I?" she asked groggily. "What are you doing here, Russ?"

"It's OK, Rose, you're at the hospital. I came with you in the ambulance and stayed so you wouldn't wake up alone. You were attacked, but you're OK now, you're safe."

"Russell..."

"Shh, don't try to talk, just go back to sleep, you need to rest."

"No, Russell. It was a vampire."

"What?"

"What attacked me; it was a vampire."

* * *

In a clearing in the woods a young couple were enjoying each other's company inside the paper thin walls of their tent. They had arrived and set up their camp that afternoon, but as night had fallen they had made their way into their tent, and then into each other's arms.

"Hey, did you hear that?" the girl asked, sitting up at a sudden noise.

"Hear what?" her partner asked, clearly wanting to return to what they had been doing.

"I heard thunder."

"There's no thunder babe."

"You sure? Because if there's a storm we won't be able to see the comet."

"It wasn't thunder. It was probably just some wild animal scurrying around."

"Like a bear?"

"No, not a bear! A squirrel or something."

"What I heard wasn't a squirrel. Go out and check."

"But babe..."

"Go!"

The male reluctantly pulled on his shirt and stepped out of the tent, kissing his girlfriend before he left.

"If I get eaten by a bear I'm blaming you," he joked.

As he zipped the tent door behind him, the girl snuggled down into her sleeping bag as she didn't have her boyfriend to keep her warm. She was soon disturbed by a steady dripping on the tent.

"I knew it! I knew it was going to rain!" She got up and went to taunt her boyfriend. "I told you so!"

Her triumph was short lived, for as soon as she got out of the tent she couldn't feel any rain, although the dripping sound remained. Unnerved she turned to look at the tent. Sure enough a liquid was trickling steadily onto the tent, but it wasn't rain. She went to touch it, to get a closer look, and drawing her hand back found it covered in blood. Feeling very scared now, she looked up; to see her boyfriend's body lying in the branches of a tree, blood flowing from a wound at his neck. She screamed, petrified, and ran back to their car, praying that it was unlocked. She tried the door, but it wouldn't open. Fear had truly set in now, and she tried to pull the car door from its hinges. Some semblance of sanity returned to her, as she remembered her car keys in her pocket. She fumbled for them, and in her panic she dropped her keys.

"Shit!" she cursed, bending to pick them up.

Suddenly the car bleeped and its lights flashed, as it was remotely unlocked. Truly terrified now, she stood up, forgetting her keys and just wanting to get into the safety of the car. But before she could even open the door, she screamed, as something jumped on her from the trees and bit into her neck.


	7. Chapter Six: The Other Brother

**My god this took a while! I'm sorry it did take some time; life, the universe and the fact that it's a large chapter got in the way. ^^; But I really enjoyed writing this chapter, getting to grips with the various characters and their interactions, and especially the end scene where Winry **_**finally**_** meets Edward. Ed/Damon: Don't give the whole thing away! Just let the people who've been patiently waiting for a new chapter read it themselves! Me: OK, calm down. Just because you're in a bad mood because it's taken a while for you get properly in the story don't take your anger out on me! Ed/Damon: Sorry. Kiss and make up? Me: Excuse me for a moment; I'll let you read this chapter while I sort loverboy, I mean Edward, here out...**

Chapter Six

The Other Brother

The morning after they had stayed up and talked late into the night Winry and Alphonse were writing in their journals.

"_Dear diary, this morning is... different. There is a change, I can sense it, feel it._

_I'm awake, for the first time in a long time, I feel completely and undeniably wide awake._

_For once, I don't regret the day before it begins._

_I welcome the day..._

_Because I know..._

_I will see her again._

_I will see him again. For the first time in a long time I can honestly say, I feel good."_

Winry put her diary away in its secret hiding place and went down for breakfast, where she found her Aunt Riza dressed in very smartest clothes, and seemingly trying her hair out in various styles before the large mirror in the hallway. Seeing Winry, Riza immediately sought the girl's opinion.

"So what do you think? Do I look adult? Or should I say parental?"

"It depends on where you're going."

"I have a meeting with Ling's boss. He called yesterday and said he urgently needed to speak to me about him. Hair up or down, do you think?" Riza demonstrated both styles.

Winry thought for a moment. "Up: sexy, independent woman who can take care of herself, and two teenagers. Down: boozy housewife."

"Ouch. Up it is then. You're rather spirited this morning."

"I feel good for once. Really good, first time in a long time, so I thought, why not go with it? Carpe diem, walk on sunshine, and all other analogies relating to living for the moment. Ling's not up yet?"

"Oh he's up, he left early. Said he had to get to work early to finish someone's car ready for them to collect this morning."

"But Ling doesn't have any keys to the garage. How would he get in?"

"Oh." Both Winry and Riza realised at the exact same moment where he was; he had gone straight to the hospital, and despite a nurse refusing to let him into Rose's room as visiting wasn't allowed for another two hours, Ling watched Rose sleeping with worried eyes.

* * *

"I thought the comet was going to be visible tonight?" Winry asked as she and Alphonse walked to their history lecture.

"Oh it is, but it'll be at its brightest tomorrow night, it'll be a much better spectacle."

"I can't believe its taken 145 years for it to come round again. I mean, it's just such a long time. Still I suppose if the comet's been going round on its orbit for millions of years, 145 years is nothing to it."

"Yeah. I suppose." Alphonse answered solemnly. "Anyway, I found it."

Winry's sapphire eyes lit up, she stopped dead in her tracks and turned to Alphonse. "You did?"

"Yep. Here." He pulled an old, leather-bound book from his bag, handing it to Winry, who took it gently, as if she were handling the most precious, fragile and expensive thing in the world. Gingerly she ran a hand over the front cover, and opened it to the title page.

"_An Introduction to Automail_ by T. Smith. I can't believe I'm actually holding this! I mean this guy was a major influence on the development of Automail mechanics, and he practically invented all the standard surgery and rehabilitation techniques."

"You know _he_ was a woman? The T stood for Teresa."

"Really? I'd always thought they were a man. I mean, every Automail book refers to them as a man."

"That's because in those days women weren't accepted as writers, let alone Automail mechanics! She knew she couldn't use her real name so made everyone think she was a man. She even went so far as to dress in men's clothes, and she never married."

"I can't believe it. Where did you get it?"

"Well, it was passed down through the years..."

Winry's face fell. "Oh."

"But I have lots of books, seriously like a whole library. Keep it."

"Oh no, Al, I couldn't possibly! I mean it's not just because it's your family's book, it's worth a fortune for goodness sake!"

Alphonse took her hand and looked deep into her eyes. "It's a gift. Keep it."

"Thank you," she smiled, and she meant it.

* * *

After sitting with Rose for most of the morning and feeling dismayed at the fact that she had not yet woken up, Ling decided that he had better head for work. Setting off on his motorbike he headed off through the town centre. As he neared the Risembool Bistro he noticed Selim Bradley getting out of his car with a female companion. Unable to resist having a dig at the young man he pulled up beside him and removed his helmet.

"Hey, Selim, sorry to interrupt, especially when you've got, ahem, company." He indicated the brunette who was standing with him. "I was just wondering how Rose is doing? I thought you'd probably know as you two are so close, is she OK?"

"She's fine. Now, if you'll excuse me, Ling." With supreme effort, Selim tried not to rise to Ling's taunts and turned to enter the Bistro. But Ling was not going to give up easily.

"How bad is she? Do they know what attacked her? Is she going to make a full recovery? Was she happy to see you? What room number was she in?"

Selim couldn't restrain himself any longer, and walked over to Ling with anger all over his face.

"I'm going to kick your ass."

"Yeah? You know, you keep saying that, Selim, but when are you actually going to do it? I say right here, right now."

Selim could feel himself getting angrier, and not wanting to get caught fighting in public he offered Ling a way out.

"Walk away, Ling, this is your final warning."

"No. This is _your _final warning. I'm sick and tired of watching you mess with Rose. If you hurt her one more time, I swear, I will kill you." With that Ling roared off.

"Shit, that was like a death threat," he chuckled, nervously, and turned to his companion. "Did you hear that?"

* * *

Riza had been invited by Mr Yoki, Ling's boss, into his office to talk. For the office of the owner of a small town garage it was awfully opulently decorated, dark wood panelled walls and fine art, which gave a feeling of false-grandeur and tackiness. She sat in a small chair on one side of a rather large oak desk, whilst Yoki sat in a high backed leather chair on the business side. He spoke in a smarmy and conceited manner, immediately putting Riza's back up.

"The reason I've invited you here today, Miss Hawkeye, is because, well frankly, I'm concerned about young Ling. He's turned up late almost every shift, today included, and often missed them entirely, leading to the rest of my _committed _staff to have to cover for him."

Riza scowled. Sure Ling was being a pain in the ass right now, taking his parents' death hard, but she couldn't believe he was turning up late and missing shifts. He loved his job and he'd trained so hard for it. He'd made his parents' unbelievably proud when he'd graduated from his apprenticeship a year early because he was such a gifted mechanic. Riza cleared her throat.

"Mr Yoki, you are aware that Ling's parents died?"

"Of course, six months ago. A terrible loss for the young lad. Car accident, wasn't it? Terrible, just terrible. You're related to the family how?"

"I was very close friends with the Rockbells, and they named me as guardian."

"I see," Yoki drawled, clearly not impressed. Riza could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks and her anger rising. How _dare_ this man judge her like this? Riza calmed herself and tried not to punch the man across the desk.

"I just can't believe Ling's not turning up for work. I mean he loves this job, he's never wanted to do anything else. I don't see why he wouldn't turn up for work; I see him leave the house every morning for one thing!"

"Well, he might be leaving the house but often he is not turning up for work. And if he does turn up late he's clearly inebriated half the time."

"What do you mean?"

"Drugs, Miss Hawkeye. It's obviously his attempt at coping, and all the signs are there. He's moody, withdrawn and very often argumentative. Does the boy not have any relatives?"

"I'm sole guardian to Ling and his sister."

"Hmm. Could there be?"

Riza by now was very angry, insulted and embarrassed, and these feeling were not lessened by the way Yoki was sitting leaning on his intertwined hands, looking over his fingers and down at her with disdain.

"What are you suggesting, exactly, Mr Yoki?"

"It's an impossible job raising two teenagers, young adults, isn't it?"

"I admit, it's hard, but no, it's not impossible." Who the hell did he think he was lecturing her on how to look after children? She pretty sure there was no way he could have any personal experience in the matter.

"No, Miss Hawkeye, it is an extremely impossible job. Anything less and you're not doing it properly." He stood up, showing Riza out of his office, who was fighting very hard not to slap the guy across the face. "I'm afraid if Ling doesn't buck up his ideas I will be forced to terminate his employment here."

* * *

As she was on her way home from college Winry ran into Russell in town. He looked like he hadn't slept properly and was still wearing the clothes he had been at the party.

"Hey, Russell, how's Rose?"

"Oh, hey, Win," Russell smiled, and his tired silver eyes immediately lit up. "She seems OK, they're keeping her in overnight again to make sure she's not got an infection and give her plenty of rest. She lost a hell of a lot of blood. But fingers crossed she'll be able to go home tomorrow."

"Did they manage to contact any of her family?"

"She doesn't seem to have anyone; no next of kin were listed on her records and I couldn't find any numbers in her phone that could be relatives. So I had them put me down as an emergency contact for her just in case."

"You are just ridiculously caring you know that, Russ?" Winry smiled. Russell didn't answer, except for going a bright shade of red, clearly embarrassed at the attention.

"Yeah, well, she damn lucky you and Ling found her when you did. Have you heard the latest? There's some campers that have gone missing in the woods. Add that to Rose and the couple found on the main road the other day I'd say there's something dangerous out there right now."

"Did Rose say what attacked her?"

"She was babbling on about a vampire or something."

"What?" Winry couldn't help but chuckle at the ridiculousness of it.

"She woke up last night, said it was a vampire that attacked her, then she passed out. I suppose she was drunk, and the doctors said she had ecstasy in her system so that would make her hallucinate." Russell turned to look Winry in the eye, a huge grin on his face. "Now, what's happening with you and the new guy? Alphonse?"

"Oh, Russell, don't you start! I've already had Paninya on the phone interrogating me about him. I like him is all. It's not going anywhere, we're just friends, we get on really well."

Russell clearly did not buy her excuse, but decided to let the matter rest, as Winry would get enough grief about Alphonse and her from Paninya and Elicia.

"Well, I'd better be heading back to the hospital, I don't want Rose to wake up alone and I want to get the real story about what happened last night. See you later Winry."

"See you, Russell!" Winry called after him as they went their separate ways.

Unbeknownst to the two teenagers someone had been listening intently to their conversation. Alphonse had been stood at the end of the street, acting as if waiting to meet someone, but had heard every word the two friends had spoken. Once they had both disappeared from view, Alphonse hurried off in the direction of the hospital, hoping he wouldn't be too late to exercise his plan.

* * *

When Russell arrived back at the hospital he found Rose had already woken and was standing looking out of her window.

"Hey, Rose, good to see you up. I just went down to the store and got you a few things I thought you'd need, though you can send me straight back to get stuff you _want_ if you like!" Russell laughed setting down his bags by her bedside cabinet. Looking up, he noticed Rose hadn't moved or even acknowledged his presence. "Rose, you alright?"

He walked up to her and gently touched her arm, which got a reaction from Rose. She started screaming at him and tried to move away from him.

"Woah, woah, Rose! Hey, Rose, calm down, it's me! It's Russell! What's wrong?"

"No! Get away from me! No! No! Get off me! No, no no!" Rose screamed.

Panicked, Russell ran to get a nurse, allowing Alphonse to sneak into the room with vampiric speed. He quickly subdued Rose, laid her on the bed, and looked into her eyes, whist speaking in a low, gentle, commanding tone.

"It was an animal that attacked you. It came out of the woods and jumped you, you blacked out. That's all you remember."

Rose answered quietly, "An animal attacked me. Came out of the woods, jumped me, blacked out. That's all I remember."

Alphonse repeated this mantra to Rose twice more, ensuring his compulsion was embedded in her mind. He wasn't sure how well it would work; he just hoped it worked well enough. Before he could repeat himself a fourth time, he heard Russell coming down the corridor with a nurse. Quickly Alphonse stole out of the room, and walked casually out of the ward just as Russell and the nurse entered Rose's room, to find her sleeping soundly.

"She seems fine to me, honey. I think you need to get some sleep, you look exhausted."

Russell, however, was not satisfied with that, something was up. He watched the nurse walk away down the corridor and swore he saw Alphonse Elric at the end of the ward. Alphonse seemed to sense he'd been spotted and promptly disappeared. Something was definitely up. Russell jogged along the corridor to catch up with Alphonse. He was sure Alphonse was only visiting or had an appointment or something else equally innocent, but after Rose's outburst he wasn't taking any chances. Russell followed him into a waiting room, where he disappeared into another ward, then Russell noticed a silhouette behind a screen that looked like Alphonse. He went over to it; he didn't know what he would say of he found Alphonse behind there, or even if, heaven forbid, there was someone else there, but he had a bad feeling and he was determined to make sure that he had no need to worry. Russell reached the screen, pulled it aside to find... no-one. Only an open window with the breeze gently caressing the curtains. Russell looked outside but didn't see Alphonse; putting it down to exhaustion and stress Russell went back to Rose's room to try and get some sleep.

* * *

The smell of blood was _everywhere_. The hospital reeked of it; from the patients, the staff, the equipment and, most of all, the blood bags. Alphonse could barely take it, the sweet temptation all around him, but he had to keep his mind on what he was doing. He had to compel Rose to believe she had been attacked by an animal, not a vampire. He couldn't risk being exposed. After he had done the deed and got out of the room unnoticed, or so he thought, he quickly headed for the exit before temptation became too great to resist. As Alphonse got to the end of the corridor he felt Russell see him.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, as he realised Russell was following him. Quickly he headed for the waiting room, where his senses were bombarded by a deluge of that wonderful, sweet scent. Ignoring it, Alphonse hurried through the waiting room and into another ward, looking for a window from where he could make good his escape. Hearing Russell enter the ward he ducked behind a screen, and to his good fortune he found an open window, which, after checking the coast was clear, he jumped through just as Russell pulled aside the screen. Putting on a burst of vampire speed Alphonse ran for home, knowing he would have to feed soon, as just resisting the lure of so much human blood in the hospital had seriously taken its toll on him.

* * *

That same afternoon Paninya and Elicia were sitting at a table outside the Risembool Bistro, drinking frothy coffees and discussing matters of varying importance. At present they were discussing the "Night of the Comet".

"So I was talking to Winry's grandmother and she said that the comet is a sign of impending doom," Paninya said as she wiped a milk moustache from her lip. "The last time it passed over Risembool there was lots of death; so much blood and violence that it created a hot bed of paranormal activity."

"Of course, and then you poured her another shot and she told you about the aliens. But I'm confused on the whole psychic issue; are you psychic or clairvoyant?"

"Well, technically, I'm a witch, according to Winry's grandmother, and looking at my family history mum discovered a load of women who were tried for witchcraft. I don't really believe it, I mean, come on witches?"

Paninya and Elicia both laughed.

"Well, witch or not, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night."

"If I could, I would! Why didn't you just talk to him, Elicia?"

"I dunno," Elicia shrugged. "I was drunk."

"What hot guy are you talking about now?" Winry sat down and joined her friends, eager to hear about Elicia's misguided wanderings in love.

"There was a hot guy at the Bistro last night, but I was drunk so I didn't talk to him, then he left and i haven't seen him since. Anyway, what happened with you and Alphonse? I heard you two had a late night rendezvous." Elicia winked at Winry, who looked slightly affronted.

"Nothing happened!" she said quickly, blushing like a new bride. "Alphonse did come over to mine last night, but all we did was talked!"

Elicia looked thoroughly disappointed. "Seriously? You talked? There was no horribly sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?"

"No, we didn't go there."

"Not even a handshake? Come on, Winry, we're your friends, you're supposed to share the smut."

"We just talked for hours. It was really nice; we have a lot in common and it was nice to just share."

"Oh, for goodness sake Winry, talking for hours and sharing and all that is great, but just jump him already! It's simple: boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex."

"Elicia, does your father know you think like this?"

"You think he'd let me out of the house if he did?"

Winry smiled at her friend, admiring her honesty, and knowing she was right, to some degree, she got up from the table.

"Where are you off to?" Paninya asked surprised.

"Elicia's right, for once. It is easy. If I sit here for long enough I'll end up talking myself out of doing the very thing I set out to do today."

Winry left her friends, heading out of town in the direction of the Elric Manor, leaving Paninya gawping with surprise and Elicia glowing with pride.

* * *

Riza had managed to calm down enough from the meeting with Ling's boss to get some shopping done without killing or maiming anyone and had arrived home to find Ling hanging around the house. Deciding to try and get through to him, she tried the age old parenting tactic of showing that "I was cool once."

"Hey, Ling, I picked up dinner. Pizza, I had an urge for an Hawaiian."

"I'm fine thanks, Aunt Riza," Ling answered uninterestedly.

"Eat anyway, it's a ruse because I want to talk."

"Actually Aunt Riza I was just heading out..."

But Riza was not going to take no for answer.

"Hey, Ling! Come. Sit." She motioned to the kitchen table, and Ling grudgingly sat down.

"You know, when I was your age, I could eat my weight in nachos, with extra cheese. It was my munchies food whenever I got stoned."

Ling's interest was suddenly roused, he couldn't quite believe his hard working, tough as nails adoptive Aunt had ever been interesting enough to get stoned.

"You got high?"

"I _did_. Past tense. But yeah, I did, life was pretty hectic then and it was my way of relaxing, getting away from it all. And it worked, for a while, But it never lasts, Ling. At some point you have to face reality and take on the challenges life brings, rather than hide from them."

Annoyed at himself that he hadn't seen the lecture coming, Ling grabbed a slice of pizza and left the table.

"That's great Aunt Riza, but I've really got to go. Thanks for the pizza."

Riza watched her adoptive nephew disappear out the door, her gaze then landed upon a photograph of Sara and Urey Rockbell. Shaking her head, she took a slice of pizza.

"How did you guys do it?"

* * *

Winry was feeling rather nervous as she approached the Elric Manor, not because of what she wanted to tell Alphonse, but because the Manor was supposed to be haunted. She knew it was silly; stories told to children by parents to scare them into keeping away from a potentially dangerous old building. Older children would dare the younger ones to creep into the Manor and find the family treasures that were supposedly still hidden in the house; the elders never letting on that they had never gone near the house, and the younger ones never admitting that they too pretended to have entered. Winry, of course, had heeded her parents' warnings and never gone near the place, but she knew that Ling had often boasted of entering the house, even spending a night there. She knew also that this was a lie.

The Manor was larger than she expected; the white boarded house sat atop the hill looked rather small and humble from town, but now she could see that it spread further back, with garages and even what looked like stables behind the main facade. Coming up to the front door, she saw that it was open, and assuming that Alphonse was home, she gingerly entered.

"Al? Alphonse, are you home?" she called into the, surprisingly non-dilapidated, hallway. She looked around, finding the hall to be rather grandly decorated, with crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and fine portraits and landscape paintings adorning the walls.

"Alphonse?" she called again, when she heard a cawing coming from the front door, and she started as a crow flew in right past her and disappeared down the hall. Deciding the stories were true and the house was haunted Winry turned to leave, but found herself face to face with a golden-eyed stranger. He was quite taller than her, yet still looked straight into her eyes, his own slightly covered by his blond bangs. He stared at her curiously, studying every inch of her though his eyes never left hers, and his mouth was barely disguising a smirk.

"I... I'm sorry for barging in," Winry found her voice, breaking the tension. "The door was... open." Winry was more than a little unnerved now, the front door, which until just a moment ago had been open, was now closed.

"You must be Winry," the stranger spoke, offering his right hand as if to shake hers, but instead he took a hold of her left hand and, bringing it to his soft lips, he laid a kiss on her hand. His hand felt rough, like hers, as if he did a lot of manual work, and she noticed he wore a large, gaudy silver ring set with a blue stone on his middle finger. "I'm Edward, Al's big brother."

"Alphonse didn't tell me had a brother," Winry said quietly, slightly taken aback by Edward's courtly greeting.

"Well, Alphonse isn't one to brag. Please, come in." Edward gestured down the hall and led Winry into the main drawing room. "I'm sure Al will be along at any moment."

If Winry thought the hallway was opulently decorated, it was nothing compared to the drawing room; it looked like it had been taken straight out of a Jane Austen novel.

"_This_ is your living room?" Winry breathed, clearly impressed, and duly noting that despite the fact it had been unlived in for years the house had obviously been well cared for.

"Living room, parlour, Sotheby's auction. It's not quite to my tastes." Edward turned to stare at Winry again, a hungry look coming into his eye. "I can see why Alphonse is so smitten, it's about time. For a while I didn't think he'd get over the last one. Damn near destroyed him."

"The last one?" She'd only just met this guy and he was already talking about Alphonse's _exes_? What was his problem?

"Yeah, funny that, she was called Winry too. Blond, blue eyes, same as you." Edward saw the look on her face and inwardly cheered that his little plan had worked, but put a look of fake awkwardness on his face instead. "You two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet, huh?"

"No." Winry answered firmly.

"Oops. My bad. Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or, maybe Al didn't want to tell you yet because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end," Edward finished in a stage whisper.

"You say that as if every relationship were doomed to end."

"What can I say? I'm a fatalist. Oh, hi Al."

Winry turned to find Alphonse standing by the drawing room door, looking concernedly between Edward and Winry.

"I didn't know you were coming over, Winry," he said somewhere between shock and worry.

"I know, I'm sorry. I should have called, I just wanted to..."

Edward cut her off, putting his arm around her shoulders, which Winry found rather annoying. If Alphonse hadn't been standing there she would have slapped him across the face with her wrench.

"Don't be silly, Winry, you're welcome here any time. Isn't she, Alphonse? You know what? I should break out the family photo albums! But, I have to warn you, Al wasn't always as good looking as he is now."

Alphonse went to Winry, rescuing her from Edward's arm.

"Thanks for stopping by, Winry. It was good to see you."

Winry could feel the tension between the brothers and decided it was best to leave before the atmosphere got more unbearable than it was now.

"Well, I should be going, Aunt Riza will be wondering where I am. It was nice to meet you, Edward."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Winry." Edward had the biggest grin on his face as Alphonse escorted Winry out, but the mirth did not carry to his eyes. If Edward were not already dead the look Alphonse gave him when he returned certainly would have had him six feet under.

"Now she is a great girl," Edward whistled. "She's got spunk. You, however, look like death. Over-exert yourself by any chance? Let me guess... you went to the hospital."

"Someone had to clean up your mess."

"Well, was the mission a success? Did the old powers of persuasion work? You know, if you don't feed properly those tricks don't work like they should."

"How long was Winry here?" Alphonse decided to change the subject but immediately wished he hadn't.

"What are you worried, Al? Afraid that we're doomed to repeat the past? Isn't that why you play your little "I'm a normal human student" game?

"I'm not playing any game, Ed."

Edward snorted his disagreement. "Of course you aren't. However, we both know that the closest you'll ever get to humanity is when you rip it open and feed on it."

Edward was standing right in front of his brother now, his gold eyes glinting with unhidden malice.

"And what kind of game are you playing, Edward?"

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

**Well, after showing Edward how it's done and leaving him in a love-befuddled state in my mind I should probably let everyone know that in advance that in March 2011 this story will be going on hiatus. This is because I've finally gotten my act together and arranged to travel to New Zealand for a year. I'll be taking my netbook with me to keep a journal and suchlike, and if I have time down under I might be able to rattle off a few chapters to keep you entertained. But until then I will endeavour to get as far into the story as I can before I go.**


	8. Chapter Seven: Let Your Heart Rule Your

**So chapter seven. We're moving along now. And we've reached A SEX SCENE! Huzzah! So to warn you, there is a scene of a sexual nature at the end of this chapter. Last paragraph. You have been fairly warned, so don't blame me if I corrupt your innocent little minds. I'm hoping the characters don't seem too OOC in this chapter, they seemed to when I was writing it, so reviews to either deny or confirm my fears would be much appreciated.**

Chapter Seven

Let Your Heart Rule Your Head

Rose had been woken up when a nurse had come into change the dressing on her neck. Feeling fully rested she had been content to watch Russell sleeping in the chair next to her bed. She was grateful to him for coming with her in the ambulance, and staying at the hospital but he really hadn't needed to. She felt guilty for inconveniencing him, even though she knew that he didn't mind, and stupid for having gotten attacked in the first place, but now she bored of watching Russell sleep, so she picked up an apple from her bedside cabinet and threw it at him.

"Ow!" Russell moaned as he was jolted awake by the sudden blow to his head.

"At last, Sleeping Beauty awakens!" Rose said giggling.

"That was _not_ ladylike, Rose Thomas," Russell complained, rubbing his temple. "How are you feeling? You look a lot better, you really had me going with all that screaming before."

"What _are_ you talking about, Russ?"

"You mean you don't remember?"

"I haven't got a clue what you're on about. Have the doctors said when I can get out of this place? I can't stand the smell of hospitals!"

Russell was concerned that she couldn't remember her screaming episode, but he decided to let it pass, putting it down to the medication and blood loss. "The doctor said as long as there's no complications you can go home tomorrow." Russell paused for a moment, unsure how to phrase the next question, and even more unsure that he'd like the answer.

"Rose, what attacked you in the woods?"

Rose looked surprised at his question, as if the answer were the most obvious thing in the world. "It was an animal. What else could it have been?"

Just as Russell was about to ask her if she'd been joking about the whole vampire thing, Ling walked into the room with a huge smile on his face.

"Hey, Rose, the nurse said you'd woken up. How do you feel?"

Rose returned his smile, although not with quite as much enthusiasm. "I'm fine."

Russell rather tactfully decided that now was a good time to make an exit so made an excuse about getting something to eat and slipped out of the room.

"Why are you here?" Rose said, rather brusquely as Russell left.

"I came to see how you were, I was worried about you."

"Well, thank you, Ling, for your concern. Truly I'm grateful, but I'm finally starting to get things off the ground with Selim and I don't need you coming in and spoiling things."

"Seriously, you're still besotted with him?" Ling said, a hint of anger and hurt in his voice. "Do you see Mr Concerned anywhere? You were attacked by something, you nearly died, and Selim Bradley couldn't give two shits about you. He's in town right now with some floozy he's just met, he's not even bothered to _ask_ how you are, let alone come and see you. Yet you still fancy the guy who tried to rape you, but me, the guy who found you and carried you, bleeding to death out of the woods, you don't even want to see me when I come to see if you're OK."

Both Rose and Ling were silent, stunned by the sudden speech. Finally Rose broke the silence.

"Thank you, Ling. For saving my life."

"You're welcome." Ling picked up the apple that Rose had thrown at Russell and bit into it as he left the room.

* * *

"He's on the rebound and has _raging _family issues." Winry was relaying what happened at the Elric Manor that afternoon as she and Riza washed and dried dishes.

"Be grateful it's only an ex-girlfriend, Winry, wait until you date a guy with mummy issues or commitment issues. Or amphetamine issues." Riza paused, a strange look overcoming her face; as she remembered something she would probably rather forget. Just then, the front door opened, and Ling emerged into the kitchen, looking bleary eyed and pale, and as soon as he saw his sister and Aunt he quickly high-tailed it out of the room.

"Ling, where the hell have you been?" Riza called as she ran after him.

"You gonna tell me more stoner stories, Aunt Riza? I get it, you were cool once, so thumbs up for you." Ling gave her two thumbs up before turning to continue up the stairs. Riza, in response, took off her slipper and threw it with great accuracy at the back of his head.

"Ow, what the hell was that in aid of?"

Putting on her sternest parental face Riza looked him in the eyes. "Listen, Ling, I had a talk with your boss today, and if you don't buck up your ideas and keep missing shifts he going to fire your arse. But worse than that, if that happens, _I_ am never going to let you out of this house again. No discussion. Do I make myself clear?"

Ling just smiled at her. "Parental authority. Nice one, Aunt Riza. Sleep tight."

* * *

As darkness had fallen Winry and Paninya were out in town distributing leaflets detailing information on the comet and the celebrations for it.

"So Alphonse didn't call, huh?"

"Or text me. But then I remembered I hadn't given him my mobile number, we hadn't gotten to the texting part."

"And as everyone knows, that is an important milestone in any relationship," Paninya said, slightly sarcasticly.

"Exactly. But it's just not the right time for me anyway."

"When is there ever a right time, Winry?"

"I mean I'm not ready, Paninya."

"Who is? There's never a right time for it, and it never happens when someone is ready for it. It just happens."

"At least I put myself out there, at least I tried."

"Is that what you're calling it?"

Winry stopped and looked at her friend.

"What do you mean?"

"You say you're trying, but all I'm hearing is reasons why you can't. What about the reasons why you _can_?"

Winry smiled at her friend, _if only things were that easy_, she thought.

* * *

Elicia was on her way across the town square, late meeting Winry and Paninya to help distribute leaflets, when she suddenly saw the blond man from the Bistro on the other side of the square. And he was looking right at her. Smiling, she began to go over to him just as a group of people walked past and blocked him from view, but when they had gone he had disappeared, nowhere to be seen. Putting it down to her imagination playing tricks on her Elicia caught up with her friends.

"I am _so _sorry I'm late!" Elicia apologised to the girls. "Dad wasn't going to let me come at first, he was worried 'the Beast' as he's dubbed it would find its way into town and get me, but I managed to talk him round." Elicia seemed to notice something behind Winry, and grabbing an armful of leaflets she dragged Paninya across the road to a group of tourists.

Winry stood there slightly confused and hurt, until she heard a soft voice behind her.

"Hey," said Alphonse, as she turned to face him.

"Hello," Winry replied, not coldly, but exactly warmly either.

Alphonse looked up at the night sky, where the comet was soaring amongst the stars, yet from Earth looked like it was frozen in time. "You know that comet; it's been travelling through space for thousands of years, all alone."

Winry looked up at the comet too. "Paninya says it's supposed to be a bad omen. I can see why people thought like that years ago; a strange object suddenly appearing in the sky, no one alive who's seen it and no record of it happening before, it was bound to freak people out."

"Well, being a scientist, I think it just a ball of ice and rock, trapped on a path that it can't escape, gravity forcing it to continue its never-ending journey." Alphonse turned back to Winry, a serious look upon his face. "I'm sorry about earlier. I wasn't myself."

"You spend a lot of time apologising, Alphonse."

"I have a lot to apologise for. I want you to know that this afternoon, that wasn't about you."

"You should have told me you had a brother, and that he lived with you."

Alphonse looked ashamed. "We're not close, Edward and I. Its... well its complicated."

"It always is. He told me about your ex, who also happened to be called Winry. You got a thing for blond girls with that name, Alphonse?"

Alphonse winced as though Winry's words had inflicted physical pain. "What did he tell you about her?"

"Only that she broke your heart."

"You have to understand, Winry, that was a long time ago."

Winry interrupted him before he could make more excuses.

"It stays with you, when you lose someone. It stays with you, to remind you of how easy it is to get hurt."

"Winry," Alphonse began, reaching out to her.

"Its fine, Alphonse, you don't have to explain. We all have issues and complications; things that get in the way. And right now I have so many things going on in my life that I don't think I could handle much more. Its better this way; we met, we talked, and it was wonderful. But then the sun came up and reality set in."

With that she reluctantly walked away from Alphonse Elric, leaving him to suffer the hurt she thought she was sparing him, and herself.

* * *

Ling walked into the Bistro, not keen on partaking in the night's festivities, preferring instead to drown his sorrows. Settling down on a stool at the bar he started as he saw who was about to serve him.

"Rose? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I should," Rose answered, clearly pissed off. "But my boss wouldn't let me off. Said he didn't care how badly I'd been mauled up, if I was out of hospital and could walk I could work. Besides, I need the money to pay the hospital bills."

"You really don't look so good, you should go home."

"I'm fine, I just ache."

"Did they give you anything for the pain?"

Rose shrugged. "Just the weak stuff, I think they were onto me."

Jeremy reached into his pocket and drew out a packet of pills, much like the others he had given Rose, except these were serious pain killers. "Here, knock yourself out."

Rose smiled. "Thanks, Ling."

Just then Selim Bradley came to prop up the bar. "Hey, Rose. How're you feeling?"

"Like you care, jack-ass," she huffed as she went to serve another customer, Ling desperately trying not to laugh and failing miserably.

"What're you laughing at, Ling?"

The other customer it turned out, was Edward Elric, and Rose immediately recalled his face, if not the reason why she remembered him.

"I know you," Rose said confused.

"Well, that's unfortunate," Edward answered. "Whiskey, on the rocks."

Rose served Edward his drink, then went to the girls toilets to take some of her pain killers. She hadn't noticed, however, that Edward had downed his drink and followed her. As she looked in the mirror after she had swallowed the pills, Edward suddenly appeared behind her, his features twisted into those of a demon, and he bit down on her neck, quickly silencing her scream with his hand.

A little while later a distraught Alphonse entered the Bistro, planning like Ling to drown his sorrows. He was soon interrupted from his reverie, however, by the manager of the Bistro raving about how he was going to fire Rose if she dared to show up stoned when she got back from her little unauthorised break. But there was something else distracting him from listening to the manager ranting on in the kitchen, there were voices coming from... the _roof_? One of the voices sounded like Rose, and the other...

"_Please... please, no! Don't hurt me!"_

"_You've really got to stop screaming, someone's going to hear you!"_

"Shit," muttered Alphonse under his breath.

* * *

"No! No, please, just let me go!" Rose screamed as she tried to fight against Edward's surprisingly strong grip.

"I'm not going to hurt you, just be quiet..."

"Let her go, Edward."

Edward turned to see his brother facing him, his eyes dark and determined. Edward was impressed, he hadn't seen Alphonse looking this dangerous in years.

"Not bad, Alphonse. The jump up here must've taken it out of you. Have you been eating bunnies?"

"Let her go." Alphonse repeated.

Edward was standing right at the edge of the building, and looked at his brother quizzically before looking down at the very sizeable drop to the ground below.

"Let her go? Alright then..." Edward dangled Rose over the edge while she screamed, her life flashing before her eyes.

"No!" screamed Alphonse, reaching for the girl. Edward drew Rose back in.

"Oh, relax. Like I'd do that, just imagine the mess. Besides, I don't need her dead, but you might." Edward turned to face Rose. "What attacked you in the woods?"

Rose looked confused, like she was trying to remember something that hadn't happened. "It was... it was an animal."

"You don't seem too sure, Rose. Think about it, think really hard. Now, what attacked you?"

Realisation seemed to dawn on Rose's face. "It was... it was a vampire! It was you!" She screamed and tried harder to get away from Edward, who held her all the tighter and made her look at him.

"Wrong, Rose!"

Alphonse could see now what his brother was trying to do, and he was afraid. "Edward, don't do this," he begged.

"It was Alphonse."

"Edward, don't!"

Edward ignored his brother's pleas, and instead looked right into Rose's eyes, whilst speaking in a low, seductively commanding tone, embroidering thoughts into her mind. "Alphonse Elric did this to you."

"Alphonse Elric did this to me," Rose repeated monotonously, the words cementing themselves into her brain.

"Alphonse is a vampire. A vicious, murderous _monster_."

"Please, Edward. _Please_, don't do this!"

Edward turned to face Alphonse. "If you couldn't fix up my mess before, I don't know what you can do now." He ripped the dressing off Rose's neck, exposing the wound he had given her.

"Your choice of lifestyle has made you weak, Alphonse," Edward sneered. "A couple of vampire parlour tricks are nothing compared to the power that you could have. The power that you now need. But you can change that; human blood will give you that."

Edward threw Rose to the floor so that she landed before Alphonse, who bent down to comfort her, desperately trying to ignore the sweet aroma that was wafting from her neck.

"You have two choices," Edward continued. "You can feed, and make her forget. Or, you let her run screaming 'vampire' through the town square."

"That's what this is about, Edward? You want to expose me?"

Edward threw up his arms in exasperation. "No! I want you to remember who you are!"

"Why? So that I'll feed? So that I'll kill? So that I'll remember what it's like to be brothers again?" Alphonse stood up and faced Edward, his eyes shining with sincerity. "You know what, Ed? Let her go. Let her tell everyone that vampires have returned to Risembool. Let them chain me up, and let them drive a stake through my heart. Because at least I'll be free of you."

Edward stared at his little brother, slightly taken aback by the little speech. "Wow. Come here, sweetheart." He lifted Rose from the ground, she screamed and tried to run again, but Edward just looked into her eyes, and let her drop unconscious to the ground. Alphonse immediately went to her, cradling her protectively in his arms.

Edward stretched as he began to walk away from the little scene he had created. "I never thought I'd say this, but it's good to be home. I think I might even stay a while this time, this town could use a wake-up call, don't you think Al?"

Alphonse looked at his brother with disdain. "What are you up to, Edward?"

"That's for me to know and you to... you know how it goes. Give Winry my best." And with that he was gone. As soon as Edward had disappeared Rose woke up, clutching her neck.

"Oh, shit, I must have ripped my stitches open... Where am I?"

"Rose, are you alright?" Alphonse asked concerned, both for Rose's well being and for what Edward might have made her think about him.

"I just took some pills, Alphonse. I'm good. Everything's good."

Alphonse, unfortunately, couldn't agree with her.

* * *

Rose seemed to think it was all one huge drug-induced trip, being up on the roof with Alphonse, so encouraging this notion, he jumped down with her behind the Bistro, where he persuaded her to tell her boss she had been sick and needed to go home to rest. Fortunately for Alphonse as they made their way into the Bistro Russell spotted them, and concerned for Rose, offered to take her home. At last Alphonse could enjoy the drink he had originally come in for, and which he very much needed now, but he hadn't had much more than a sip when Paninya joined him.

"Hi," she said simply.

"Hello, Paninya," Alphonse answered simply.

"Look, whatever Winry might have said to you earlier, its lies. Complete BS. She's just making excuses as to why she can't go out with you. I haven't seen her this interested in a guy... ever, and I think you'd be good for her right now, she needs something good to happen in her life."

"She seemed pretty certain before that she didn't need any more complications in her life."

"Oh, please! She thought she was saving you from _her_ complications, not the other way around. You're crazy for her, Al, I can see that, so..." she produced a piece of paper from her pocket and held it out to him. "That's her mobile number and e-mail. And you can tell her that I was the one that gave it to you."

"Thank you, Paninya." Alphonse smiled as he took the paper from her, but as their hands touched Paninya lost all the humour she had had on her face and a serious expression suddenly overtook her.

"Are you OK?" Alphonse enquired, alarmed.

"What happened to you?" Paninya seemed scared all of a sudden, and she stared through Alphonse as if he weren't there. Coming to her senses Paninya apologised for her rudeness and made her excuses to leave. Alphonse stared after her, sensing that Paninya wasn't as normal as he would have first believed.

Edward meanwhile, hadn't gone far; he was watching Elicia as she continued to hand out leaflets to the few people still in town so late. Deciding to make his move, he seemed to materialise right behind her. He spoke, making Elicia jump and turn around.

"Isn't it a little dangerous for a young woman, such as yourself, to be out alone at night?"

"Oh! You made me jump!"

"I'm sorry, scaring you was not my intention I'm sure," Edward smiled.

"Oh, don't worry its fine! I was, um, I was hoping I'd see you again," Elicia smiled innocently.

Edward leaned toward her and winked. "I know."

"Cocky much?"

"_Very_ much."

Elicia giggled, acting the innocent young girl her father believed her to be, and Edward knew her not to be. He _loved _girls like her, they were so much easier to manipulate.

* * *

Winry arrived home to what sounded like someone frantically searching for something. She followed the sounds and occasional curses to Ling's room

"Ling?" she called as she knocked and entered his room.

"Nope," Riza's muffled voice answered her as she was halfway under Ling's bed. "It's me, the hypocrite patrol."

"What are you doing, Riza?" Winry leaned against the doorframe, looking mildly amused.

"I have become my worst authority figure who has to violate an 18 year old's privacy. Bingo!" She called as she emerged from under the bed, a bag of cannabis in her hand. "I see the hiding places haven't gotten any more creative."

"What brought this on?" Winry enquired.

"Jeremy's boss. Made me feel two inches tall and that I had no idea how to look after you two. Like he's got any more experience. As if I didn't know I was failing you and Ling anyway."

"You're not failing us, Aunt Riza..."

"Yes, I am, Winry. I'm not your mother, I'm not Sara. She made everything look so easy. School, marriage, having you. I thought I could do it because she made it seem so simple. But I can't do it. At some point I'm going to say or do the wrong thing, and Ling's going to get worse, and it will all be my fault."

Winry went to Riza and pulled her into a hug. "This is just the fear talking, Riza. Having the responsibility of us two thrust upon you all of a sudden, it's scary, that's all. We're all scared of something." Comprehension dawned on Winry as she realised what it was that she was scared of. "I have to go do something, Riza. Are you going to be alright?"

Riza nodded and Winry raced down the stairs, putting on her coat and scarf even as she ran out the door and headed for Elric Manor.

* * *

"Please be home, please be home, please be home." Winry prayed as she rang the rather impressive doorbell. After what seemed an eternity Alphonse answered the door.

"Hi," hope shone in Alphonse's eyes, whilst pragmatism resided in his features.

"Hey," Winry answered, awkwardly shuffling her feet.

"Would you like to come in?"

"Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to watch the comet, but, well, its warmer inside and I'm rambling!" Winry laughed as she stepped over the threshold. "I'm sorry for calling so late, especially after earlier..."

"No, I'm glad you called. I didn't like the way we left things..."

"See, the thing is, Alphonse, I arrived home tonight and was planning to do what I always do; write in my diary, like I have done every day since my tenth birthday when my mum gave me my first diary. It's where I get everything off my chest, all my thoughts and feelings, everything goes in a little book that I keep in a trinket box under my bed. But then... then I realised I'd just be writing things that I should be telling you."

"What would you write?"

"I would write... _"Dear diary, today I convinced myself that it was OK to give up. Don't take risks, stick with what you know. No drama; now isn't the time. But my reasons aren't reasons, they're excuses, and Winry Rockbell does not make excuses. All I'm doing is running from the truth, and the truth is that..."_ I'm scared, Al. I'm scared that if I let myself get close to anyone again that they'll be ripped out of my life just like... just like mum and dad were and I... I don't know if I could survive that again."

Winry looked down at the ground, a tear rolling down her blushing cheeks. She was relieved to have told Alphonse that, but at the same time embarrassed that she had bared so much of her soul.

"Do you want to know what I would write?" Alphonse took her hands in his, and she looked up into his beautiful golden eyes. _So like his brother's, but so different,_ she thought. "I would write, _"I met a girl. We talked and it was wonderful. But the sun came up and reality set in. Well, this is reality. Right here."_ Right now."

And nothing more needed to be said, as Winry and Alphonse at last realised they both felt the same, and they kissed, gently yet passionately, ignoring the cold wind blowing through the still open door.

* * *

Edward, being a cunning vampire, not to mention gentleman, had escorted Elicia home, insisting that she should not be out alone when there was a dangerous animal roaming about. Elicia accused him of sounding like her father, to which he replied that her father was a sensible man. The pair laughed and joked all the way to Elicia's house, Edward despising her annoying laugh, but tolerating it as he needed Elicia for his bigger plan. Seeing no lights on in the house, Elicia assumed her father was on duty, and after a quick check to ensure he wasn't home, she invited Edward inside. As the night was still relatively young Elicia deemed it a good idea to raid the drinks cabinet, and Edward obligingly poured her drink after drink. After a while Elicia drunkenly decided to move things upstairs and, clad only in her shirt and knickers, beckoned Edward up to her room. Edward, of course, was more than happy to oblige the girl. Kissing her in ways she had never been kissed before, Edward expertly removed what little clothing Elicia had left, and she in turn removed his, unfortunately not quite as efficiently. Their bodies entwined and moved in harmony, Elicia releasing moans of ecstatic bliss; she's thought she'd had some pleasurable sexual encounters before but this was _nothing _like she had ever dreamed of. Edward, being a 165 year old vampire and a bit of a ladies' man, knew the pleasure a vampire could give a human sexually, so he knew exactly how to make Elicia scream. And scream she did, as he planted several wet kisses on her neck before he bit her, no longer able to resist the blood lust that had reached boiling point within him. Edward drank his fill of her before returning to satisfy both their carnal needs.

**Whew, pretty steamy scene there... so I'm going to cool off in the snow that's fallen overnight. I may be 22 but I'm a child at heart when it comes to snow! ^_^**


	9. Chapter Eight: Life is Full of Surprises

**I can only apologise for the lateness of this chapter; a combination of writer's block and real life getting in the way caused a delay in the proceedings of chapter eight. It took me ages to write the rugby section, even though I like rugby I haven't got a clue about the rules or finer points of the game (football [or soccer for the Americans] and cricket are my sports) and I really didn't like the thought of writing Winry as a cheerleader, she just doesn't seem the type to me. I spent hours thinking of what I could do for that scene instead, but after numerous cups of tea and many watches of the Vampire Diaries I decided to just write the cheerleading part, as there was only that one scene of cheerleading in TVD and Elena quit soon after that practice session. Hopefully I will get chapter nine up quicker, as it's a very interesting chapter with some great scenes to write. In the mean time, reviews are greatly appreciated and most of all, enjoy!**

Chapter Eight

Life is Full of Surprises

The early morning sunlight was what woke Elicia the next morning, and she opened her eyes to find the sleeping form of Edward Elric half naked in her bed. Despite the copious amount of alcohol she had consumed the night before Elicia remembered everything that had happened, and hoping that she had dreamed that part, put a hand to her throat and found it covered in blood. Scared, and a little bit ashamed of herself, she gently slid out of bed, seeing her cream pillows had been stained a bright scarlet. Retrieving the shirt she had worn the previous night from the floor, she wrapped it around herself as she tip-toed to her bedroom door. She immediately stopped and squeezed her eyes tight shut as she stepped on a loose floorboard. Praying that she hadn't woken Edward, she gingerly turned to see if he was still asleep. But he wasn't in the bed.

"Good morning."

Elicia slowly turned, petrified, to find Edward standing in front of her, blocking her exit, his golden blond hair hung loose about his shoulders.

"You were just going to leave me in bed alone? That makes me feel so cheap, Elicia."

"Keep away from me!"

Edward laughed as he stalked towards her. "That's not what you were saying last night."

Elicia backed away from him, and when the backs of her legs hit the bed she fell back upon the sheets and before she could blink Edward was straddling her. His legs held her body and his hands pressed her shoulders into the mattress, Elicia was going nowhere.

"Please," Elicia begged, tears streaming down her face. "Please, don't hurt me. I'll scream, my father will be home, he'll hear me and he'll kill you."

Edward leaned down so that his lips brushed Elicia's ear. "Your father isn't home; I can hear that there's no one else in the house, there's no one next door even! You can scream as loud as you like, Elicia, no one will come."

"Please... please, just leave me alone!"

"You know, if you hadn't tried to leave, you wouldn't have made me force my hand. This could have been far more pleasurable. For you."

Elicia cried out as Edward bit down onto her neck, re-opening the wounds he had made the night before, but her cries subsided as she gave into the false pleasure that Edward made her feel when he looked into her eyes and made her forget the pain and her fear.

* * *

"I'm not saying that you shouldn't be dating Alphonse, just take things slow is all."

Paninya and Winry were sitting at a picnic bench outside college waiting for Elicia to arrive, who was unusually late.

"If I remember correctly, Paninya, you were the one who said I should make a go of it. _You _gave him my phone number!"

"Well, now I'm saying take things slowly. You've got all the time in the world to make things work with Al. Besides, I didn't think you had time for boys in your busy Automail shaped future."

Winry looked quizzically at her friend, not believing for a moment her appalling excuses.

"Seriously, Paninya. What's the real reason why you've suddenly changed your tune?"

Paninya looked sheepish. "It's stupid, really..."

"Paninya, come on. You can tell me, you're my best friend; I don't care how stupid it is. Tell me."

Paninya looked down at the ground for a few moments, unsure whether she should say what was troubling her. Unsure whether Winry would believe her, or if she really even believed herself.

"Alright. I accidentally touched Alphonse, and I got a really bad feeling."

"That's it? Paninya, that's..."

"Winry, it was a _bad_ bad feeling."

"Is this the whole psychic witch thing again?"

"I'm just concerned, Winry. Al's nice, but I get a bad vibe from him so I'm just saying... be careful."

"I know you're just looking out for me Paninya, and I love you for it, but for the first time in a long time I feel good. I feel like things are finally starting to get back to normal, and Alphonse is a big part of that."

"Good morning Winry, good morning Paninya," Alphonse greeted the two girls as he sat down opposite Winry. Paninya immediately got up to leave.

"Hey. You know what, I'm going to go see if I can find Elicia, she might already be inside or something, so I'll see you guys later."

"Paninya, wait..." Winry made to grab her friends arm, but Paninya was already walking away.

"She doesn't like me very much," Alphonse shrewdly deduced.

"Paninya's my best friend, Al, she's just looking out for me. It's just because she doesn't know you yet, but I guarantee you once she does, she will love you."

"Not more than you I hope," Alphonse joked.

Winry suddenly bolted upright and looked as if a light bulb had just lit up over her head. "I've got the perfect plan. Are you free tonight?"

"Yes."

"Fantastic. Here's what we'll do: dinner at my house, eight o'clock, you, me and Paninya. You two can spend some time together and get to know each other."

Just at that moment one of two boys who had been practicing their rugby skills nearby kicked the ball to his friend, who pathetically missed and allowed the ball to go flying towards the back of Alphonse's head. Alphonse sensed the ball coming as soon as it had broken contact with the boy's foot, he knew it hadn't been caught and just before it was going to hit him, just as the boys opened their mouths to warn him, he spun round and caught the ball inches from his face. He then threw it back to the boy that had kicked it several yards away, who just caught it, surprisingly not in his mouth, which was wide open with shock at the catch and throw Alphonse had just performed. Alphonse just smiled at him, and turned to Winry, who was staring at him with a look of pure awe.

"That catch was amazing! And that throw! I wouldn't have had you down as a rugby player."

"I used to play, when I was younger."

"You know the local team is looking for new players, you should try out. You remember I told you about Russell Tringham? He's captain."

"Yeah, I got to talk to him at the party and he asked me if I played. I don't think I'm good enough for a team. I just like to kick a ball about, you know."

"Oh come on, that catch and that throw? That was more than just kicking a ball about, you'd be great. And it would be a chance to meet new people, make some friends."

"Says the girl who spends her free time alone tinkering in her workshop," Alphonse chuckled.

"Excuse me, but there's more to me than my Automail obsession! There's a whole other Winry that you have yet to meet. She was into everything, a veritable social butterfly."

Alphonse smiled. "Well, I look forward to meeting her. When can we expect her to show up?"

"Soon," Winry smiled back.

* * *

Later that morning Paninya wasn't listening to Mr Kimbley as he droned on and on in History. Instead she was doodling, as she often did when she zoned out, but unusually she wasn't drawing, she writing three numbers, over and over again; 3, 10 and 66.

"The Ishval War ended in... anybody? 1850. Alright, how about the Wellesley Incident?"

Thinking Mr Kimbley was pre-occupied with the class, Winry leaned over to Alphonse. "Just an FYI, our team _sucks_, they need you."

"I don't do teams, I'm a loner."

"Miss Rockbell, since you seem able to have ignore the class and have your own conversation, you must know the answer. The Wellesley Incident?"

"Errr..." Winry stared at Mr Kimbley blankly.

"March, 1811." Alphonse came to her rescue.

"Thank you, Miss Rockbell," Kimbley smirked.

"Anytime," answered Alphonse rather boldly.

Sensing a chance to embarrass Alphonse as he had embarrassed him, Kimbley decided to test the boy's knowledge. "Alright then, the Lior Riot."

"1914. I'm good with dates, sir."

"Really? Well, let's see how good you are. Just state the year. The Cameron Civil War."

"1661."

"Founding of Amestris."

"1558."

"The First Southern Border War."

"1835."

"Xing Olympic Games."

"1972."

"Fisk."

"1799."

"Creta missile crisis."

"1962."

"Cornello assassination."

"1884."

"The Slicer Brothers execution."

"1912."

"Aerugo Peace Treaty."

"1989."

"Drachma War."

"1950 to 1953."

"Aha! It ended in '52."

"It was 1953," Alphonse insisted.

Mr Kimbey looked furious. "Somebody look it up. _Quickly_."

A student at the back answered. "It was 19...53."

Alphonse smiled triumphantly. If Mr Kimbley had been red in the face before, it was nothing to how he looked now. Seething, he shot daggers at Alphonse with his eyes and tried to regain some semblance of control over his students.

"How on earth did you know all that?" Winry asked, clearly impressed.

"Years of crossword puzzles," Alphonse chuckled. "It's a loner thing."

* * *

More to stop Winry going on about the subject than agreeing with her, Alphonse reluctantly went along to the rugby club that evening to join in a practice session.

"Hey! You decided to show up after all." Russell greeted him with a smile and an encouraging pat on the back.

"Winry talked me into it. I suppose it can't hurt to see how rusty I am!"

"Doesn't matter how good you are, _you_ won't be getting on the team anytime soon." Selim Bradley had entered the dressing room with an unamused look on his face. Alphonse immediately decided he didn't much like the dark-haired boy.

"Selim, don't be an arse-hole. If Alphonse is half as good as Winry said he was he'll be on the team, Kimbley's not the only one with a say on who plays."

"Kimbley? As in Mr Kimbley who teaches History at college?" Alphonse looked shocked.

"The very same. He's the coach. I know he's not exactly a people person, but he knows his rugby."

Alphonse could only gulp in apprehension; it looked like his rugby career had finished before it had begun. The rest of the team arrived and changed, Russell introducing Alphonse to each of them, and received a nicer reception from them than he had from Selim. Apparently Selim held a misguided belief that he was the best player on the team, and any new player posed a threat to his superiority. Once the team had run out onto the pitch Alphonse felt an ominous presence behind him.

"So not content with humiliating me in front of my students, you decide to do it as an extra-curricular activity too."

Alphonse turned round to see Kimbley stood behind him; arms crossed and a face like thunder.

"Mr Kimbley, I realise that you and I haven't got off to the best start, and I want to apologise for that. But I've played rugby before, openside flanker mostly, and I'm a good player, so I've been told."

Kimbley studied Alphonse for a moment, before seeming to come to a decision he would later regret.

"Go get changed, I want to see you do five laps of the pitch, then we'll see what you can do."

Alphonse smiled his thanks to Kimbley who spoke again as he passed him.

"This is just to see you get knocked on your arse, Elric."

After changing Alphonse easily made the five laps, only breaking a sweat because he was trying not to run at vampire speed, he then joined the team in some basic exercises and ball tactics, before Kimbley split them into four teams of five in order to play a quick tag rugby tournament. Alphonse ended up on the same team as Russell and Selim. Whilst the other teams played each other Russell and Alphonse engaged in conversation, which didn't go unnoticed by Kimbley or Selim; both frowning at Alphonse whilst plans on how to humiliate him ran through their heads. When it came to their turn to play Kimbley took Selim to the side for a moment whispering in his ear.

"Take Elric out; just make it look like an accident."

"But we're on the same team, how do I do that?"

"Are you completely useless Bradley?" Kimbley sneered. "Use your imagination!"

A wicked grin came upon Selim's face and he joined his team on the pitch, sticking close to Alphonse. It turned out that even though Alphonse hadn't played in over 100 years he was still as good as he had been when he was alive, if not better due to his vampire senses and strength. No one could keep up with him, let alone get near enough near him to tag him, he ran and dodged so fast, and his passes and catches were perfect; he never dropped the ball. That was until Selim ran straight into him and rugby tackled him to the ground just as a he caught a pass from Russell.

"What the hell Selim?" Alphonse shouted as he caught his breath, it was the surprise more than the tackle that had winded him.

"Woah! Sorry Elric, didn't see you there! Thought that pass was for me."

_Like hell you did,_ though Alphonse. He had heard Kimbley talking to him as he walked onto the pitch, and had been watching out for Selim, but he didn't he think he would do something so stupid as that.

"You going to live, Elric?"

"Yeah." Alphonse could practically hear the struggle Kimbley was under to stop himself from laughing. He got to his feet to find Russell standing before him looking worried.

"You OK? That was a pretty hard tackle you took."

Alphonse smiled, knowing it would take more than Selim had to hurt him.

"I'm fine, I'll walk it off."

* * *

"Oh my God, you're here!" Paninya went to greet Winry as she arrived at the Town Hall for her first cheerleading practice since before her parents died.

"Well, I made Alphonse try out for the rugby team, so I figured I should get back into my old routines. The only way for things to be back the way they were is do the things that were. By the way, you're coming over for dinner after practice."

"I am?"

"Yep. You, me and Alphonse. You have to give him a chance."

Paninya's look of excitement at a girly night in turned to one of disappointment when Alphonse's name was mentioned, and she quickly tried to think of an excuse not to go.

"I don't know if I can make it tonight... I'll have to check with mum. Have you seen Elicia at all? I've been calling and texting her all day and she hasn't answered..."

"Don't change the subject Paninya Bennett, you're coming to dinner."

As Winry looked dangerously close to pulling out her wrench for her gym bag Paninya decided to give in.

"Fine. I'll come. Seriously though, where is Elicia?"

"I don't know. And it's not like her not to answer her phone, try her again."

At that moment they heard a car roaring into the car park, and turned to see a shiny red sports car pull up, the two occupants of the car awfully familiar to Winry. Paninya could only gawp in awe, both at the car and its blond driver.

"Oh. My. God. That must be the mystery guy from the Bistro."

Winry shook her head, unbelieving, as Elicia gracefully got out of the car, then leaned in to give the driver a kiss before he sped off, Elicia walking towards her friends.

"That's not a mystery guy, that's Edward Elric."

"Elric? As is in Alphonse?" Paninya gasped in surprise.

Elicia reached them, a huge smile plastered on her face, and a scarf around her neck.

"I got the other brother, hope you don't mind. Sorry I'm late, I was, uh, busy." She winked shamelessly at Paninya and turned to Winry. "It's good to see you back at practice Winry. Well, we better get started before we run over our time slot, shall we?"

With that Elicia led her friends into the hall, where they were met with the rest of the cheerleading squad. Elicia immediately got the group started, and though Winry tried her best to keep up, she found that she just couldn't keep pace with the rest of the squad. Elicia rather untactfully suggested she just watch for the time being and try and figure out the routines that way. But watching the other girls Winry found that her heart just wasn't in it any more. The old Winry loved cheerleading, it helped her keep fit, but the new Winry just couldn't find it in her to place a fake smile on her face and act out some insipid dance routine. Despite what she had said earlier about things getting back to the way they were she knew, in her heart of hearts, that no matter how much she tried, her life from now on would never be the way it was before.

* * *

Alphonse wearily made his way home from rugby, tired only by the fact he hadn't done that much exercise in years and even a vampire couldn't just take up exercise after a long period of relative inactivity and not expect to feel any ill effects. Once home he poured himself a snack and made his way to his room, intending to shower and change for dinner. His plans were rudely marred, however, by the presence of Edward sitting at his desk reading his journal.

"How was rugby? Did you make the team?" He stood up and walked towards Alphonse, the journal still open in his hand. "It's very Emerson, you know, the way you reveal your soul with so many... adjectives."

"What are you doing here?" Alphonse did not look impressed.

"I've come to apologize." Edward threw the diary onto Alphonse's bed. "I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, if you will, and... I want us to start over, we need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother Al, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. And maybe, given time, I can do it too; maybe I can learn to be a non-living living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us."

Alphonse looked touched that Edward would think such things, but was also aware that this was his brother; he could easily be lying and hiding any number of tricks up his sleeves.

"You know it doesn't have to be this way, Ed."

"Of course it doesn't. I saw Winry today, by the way, down at the Town Hall for cheerleading practice. She looked so perky in her little short shorts." Edward chuckled as a dark look came across his brother's face. "Simmer down, Al, I didn't go near her. You're not the only one with a cheerleader. Which reminds me... I have to run, I have a date."

Edward began to leave and as he reached the door he rubbed his hands together, almost with glee.

"Look at that, sweaty palms. Wish me luck, Al."

**The numbers Paninya writes down: 3 and 10 because Ed and Al burnt their house down in the manga and anime on the 3****rd**** of October, and 66, because I wanted to get Barry the Chopper in somehow! I know in the manga/anime the Ishval War didn't end in 1850 (it actually ran from 1901 to 1908), but I've had to mess around with a few dates to align with the Vampire Diaries timeline, and allow for future plot developments. Some of the wars/ historical events and their dates were taken out of the manga (chapter 67), other's I made up. I made Alphonse an openside flanker as I felt it the best position for him. They have to be quite light on their feet and are often the tallest members of the team. They're the ones who get thrown up to catch the ball in a line up usually. For more info on rugby positions see- ****.org/wiki/Rugby_union_positions****. Tag rugby is where you don't make proper body contact, you just tag the player with the ball and they have to give it up. It's mainly played in schools and used for practice sessions, although Selim doesn't seem to have understood the "tag" part. Also, I couldn't think of anything FMA related to replace the "Emerson" bit with when Ed reads Al's diary. As far as I'm aware no writers were mentioned in the manga or anime and I didn't want to waste a character who could be used later on in a mere mention of a reference to an author, so Emerson stuck.**


	10. Chapter Nine: Let the Right One In

**I had been hoping to get this out before Christmas, but of course things got pretty hectic and left-until-last-minute so this is instead a belated Merry Christmas chapter. Hopefully I will be able to get Chapter Ten written for New Years for you. I must say a huge thank you to RisingDarkAngel for her fabulously nice reviews, they really helped me write this chapter and inspired me to keep going when I had a block. So now, enjoy Chapter Nine, and remember reviews are greatly appreciated! **

Chapter Nine

Let the Right One In

Paninya and Winry were preparing dinner in the Rockbell's kitchen (Riza had graciously gone out for the evening, winking to Winry as she left, and Ling of course would not be home until gone midnight) and Paninya was yet again on the topic of psychics and witches.

"It's so weird, I'm just obsessed with these three numbers; 3, 10 and 66. I just keep seeing them over and over in my head."

"Maybe we should play the lottery," Winry joked. "You should go and talk to my Grandma about it."

"Oh yeah, and Pinako will just say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?" Paninya pointed a butter knife at Winry accusingly.

"I don't want to be a witch," Winry agreed. "Right, serving spoons..."

Without thinking Paninya immediately offered help. "Top drawer to the left of the oven."

Winry tried the drawer, and there amongst the other cutlery lay the serving spoons. Paninya and Winry looked at each other, their eyes betraying their calm faces that both girls were a little bit freaked out.

"OK, so you've been in this kitchen a thousand times..."

"Yeah, that's it."

Thankfully the tension was broken when they were saved by the doorbell.

"That'll be Alphonse. Promise to be nice?"

Paninya gasped in mock offence. "I'm always nice!"

While Winry went to get the door, Paninya decided to experiment.

"Birthday candles," she muttered. Paninya walked across the kitchen to a small drawer, which she opened to find was full of all manner of junk, but sitting proudly on top of it all was a packet of candles. Paninya slammed the drawer shut, refusing to think the W word, putting it down instead to spending half her life in Winry's house.

* * *

"Did Kimbley give you a hard time today?" Winry asked Alphonse innocently as they sat down for dinner.

Alphonse glared at her. "You could have told me Kimbley was coach."

Winry avoided his eyes as she made a feeble excuse about not wanting to scare him from rugby before he'd given it a chance.

"Well, he let me on the team anyway, so I must have done something right. Although I have a feeling it was more Russell's decision than Kimbley's."

"Seriously Paninya you should have seen Alphonse today; he caught this ball that was coming right at his head and..."

"Yeah, I heard," said Paninya brusquely. Winry stared down her friend, re-enforcing her "be nice" rule. In an effort to break the tension Winry decided to change the subject and get Paninya involved in the conversation.

"Why don't you tell Alphonse about your family?"

"Well, there's not much to tell; mum, dad, only child..."

"No, I mean the witches." Winry turned to Alphonse. "Paninya's recently discovered that her family has links to a line of witches, it's really cool."

"Cool isn't exactly the word I'd use," Paninya muttered as she speared an unfortunate potato onto her fork.

"Well, it's certainly interesting," Alphonse piped up. "I'm not overly versed on witches, but I do know that there's a history of Xerxean Druids that migrated here not long after the Fall of the Xerxes Empire."

"My family originated in Rush Valley."

"Really? Rush Valley witches? I'd say that's pretty cool."

"Why?"

"The Rush Valley witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity."

Paninya smiled at Alphonse, as he had returned to his original high position in her estimations of him. "Yeah, they are."

Just then the doorbell rang, making Winry jump as she wasn't expecting anyone.

"I wonder who that could be, Riza said she'd be gone until late."

Winry went to answer the door, leaving Paninya and Alphonse discussing the Rush Valley witches, although he kept a beady ear trained upon Winry in the hallway.

"Surprise!" He heard Elicia shout. "Paninya said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert."

The next voice Alphonse heard made his blood run cold, and he immediately left Paninya mid-conversation at the table to make sure the owner of the voice stayed out of the house.

"Hope you don't mind." Edward said apologetically, in a vain attempt at making it seem like it had all been Elicia's idea that they had come over.

"Edward, what are you doing here?" Alphonse asked as he came to the door, unconsciously and protectively putting an arm around Winry's waist.

"Well, I'm waiting for Winry to invite me in." Edward smiled innocently.

"Sure, you can..." Winry began to say as Elicia was already inside and hanging her coat on the coat-rail, although strangely she left her scarf on.

"No!" Alphonse interrupted her, making everyone turn and stare at him. "I mean, uh, Edward can't, he... he can't stay. Can you, Ed?"

The brothers stared each other down for the briefest of moments, each warning the other to back down, before Elicia grabbed a hold of Edward's leather jacket and physically pulled him into the house.

"Get in here, you," she giggled as she hauled him across the threshold. Edward smiled darkly at his brother as he took off his jacket; both vampires knew the implications now that Edward had been invited into the house.

"You have a beautiful home, Winry," Edward complimented.

"Thank you, Edward," Winry replied, somewhat stiffly, as she led her two unexpected guests and their dessert into the dining room.

* * *

"I cannot believe that Mr. Kimbley let you on the team," Elicia said to Alphonse through a mouthful of cheesecake. Everyone had moved through to the living room to eat dessert; Alphonse was sitting protectively around Winry, Edward next to Elicia while Paninya was left to play gooseberry.

"I bet Selim was seething! But good for you for going, I'm sure you'll be great."

"That's what I've been telling Al for years," Edward put in, his eyes never leaving his brother's. "You have to engage, you can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it."

"Unfortunately Winry wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you've missed so much training; I don't know how you're going to learn the routines, we'll have to do extra sessions."

Winry looked like Elicia had hit her with one of her own wrenches, but fortunately Paninya came to her rescue.

"I'll work through the routines with her, she'll be be fine."

Winry smiled her thanks to Paninya, while Elicia muttered about putting her in the back if need be.

Edward gave Winry an odd look, as if he was still figuring her out. "You know, you don't seem like the cheerleading type, Winry."

"It's just because her parents died, Winry's going through a 'blah' phase." This time Elicia caught the look Winry was giving her, and in an attempt to apologise patted her gently on her knee. "And I say that with complete sensitivity."

"I'm sorry, Winry. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Alphonse and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." This time Winry could see Edward's face was filled with loss and understanding, and on some level she found herself sympathising with him.

Alphonse hurriedly tried to skirt around the subject Edward was obviously keen to bring up. "I don't think we need to get into that right now, Edward."

"You know what, you're right Al." Edward held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "I'm sorry, the last thing I wanted to do was bring _her_ up."

* * *

After Edward had created a rather awkward situation, that involved him and his brother throwing metaphorical daggers at each other, Paninya and Elicia had managed to save the situation by drawing Alphonse into a conversation about rugby. Winry dutifully played hostess and went to load the dishwasher, not noticing that she had been followed.

"One more," Edward called to her as he held out his glass. Startled by his presence she didn't get a good grip on the glass and dropped it, screwing her eyes shut and waiting for the sound of shattered glass that didn't come. Winry opened her eyes and saw Edward had caught it mid-fall.

"Quick reflexes," she said as she properly took the glass this time and placed it in the dishwasher. Edward simply smiled as Winry proceeded to put some dishes in the sink to soak.

"I like you, Winry," Edward suddenly spoke. "You know how to laugh, and you make Al smile, which is something I haven't seen in a very long time."

Wanting to try and garner some information from Edward, she decided to indulge him in conversation.

"Earlier, when you mentioned... _her_, did you mean... Winry?" It felt weird to talk about Alphonse's ex-girlfriend, especially one that shared her name. _It could get confusing_, she thought.

"Mm-hmm."

"How did she die?"

A look of genuine sadness seemed to glide across Edward's features, but as soon as it had come it had gone, and his usual cool demeanour returned.

"It was a fire."

"Was it... recently?"

"Well, it seems just like yesterday it happened." Edward chuckled slightly.

"What was she like?"

Edward paused for a moment, as if he was trying to recover a long lost memory.

"She was beautiful, a lot like you in that department." He leered at her, and noting the dangerous expression that came over her, he soon stopped. "She was a very complicated person, selfish and at times not very kind, but _very_ sexy and seductive."

"So did you or Alphonse date her first?"

"Nicely deduced. Ask Alphonse, I'm sure his answer will differ from mine. I'd quit cheerleading if I were you."

Winry stared him, caught off guard both by the sudden change in topic and the bluntness of his statement.

"What makes you say that?"

"I saw you at practice. You had a face like a wet weekend."

"Really?" Winry had hoped her current feelings for cheerleading weren't so obvious.

"Oh yeah."

"I used to love cheerleading, it was fun. Things are different now though. Everything that used to matter doesn't anymore."

"Well if you don't enjoy it anymore then quit, move on. Problem solved. Ta-da!"

"Some things could matter again. I mean, being an Automail mechanic still matters to me."

"Yeah, well, I'd say you're way more suited to that than cheerleading."

Edward turned to leave, but Winry caught his arm and held him back.

"I'm sorry. About Winry. You lost her too."

Edward was about to say something when Paninya suddenly bounded into the kitchen, but stopped in her tracks when she saw him and Winry.

"Hey, you need any help in here?" she asked nervously, wondering what was going on.

"I'll leave you two to it," Edward said as he walked out the kitchen.

* * *

In the living room, whilst Paninya had gone to offer her help in the kitchen, Alphonse took the opportunity of being alone with Elicia to probe her about Edward. He wanted to ensure that his brother wasn't hurting the poor girl, although he wasn't exactly sure what he would be able to do if he found out Edward was hurting her, and he had noticed that she was still wearing a scarf despite the fact it was rather warm in the house. There could only be one reason for that.

"That's a really nice scarf," Alphonse commented, trying his best to sound casual.

"Thank you. Although, technically it's a pashmina, but you know you're a guy, you're not to know these things." Elicia looked at him with sympathetic eyes, and spoke as if addressing a simpleton.

Alphonse smiled back, humouring her. "You know it's rather warm in here, you really don't need to be wearing it."

Elicia immediately stiffened and her hand went protectively to her throat.

"Oh, I can't."

_I was right,_ Alphonse thought. _He's feeding on her._ "Why not?" He asked, wanting to see how far under Edward's control she was. "You must be sweltering in it! And you won't feel the benefit when you go out."

"Well, uh... I mean... All I know is I can't take it off." Elicia looked slightly confused before giving her final, pre-rehearsed statement.

"What are you two talking about?" Edward sauntered into the room, sitting down next to Elicia and staring at his brother accusingly.

"I was just commenting on her scarf; saying how hot she must be with it on in here." Alphonse glared at Edward, his eyes clearly stating that he was onto him.

"I'm sure if was bothering her she'd do something about it," Edward stated as if Elicia weren't there, then an idea struck him and he turned to her. "Why don't you go and help Winry and Paninya with the dishes? I'm sure they could use an extra pair of hands."

Elicia snorted as she held up perfectly manicured nails. "Do I look like I do dishes?

"For me?" Edward put on his best puppy eyes and whined.

"I don't think so."

Bored of the games now, Edward looked her in the eyes. "Go and see if Winry needs help in the kitchen."

Elicia's eyes glazed over as she stood up and smiled at the brothers. "You know I think I will go and see if Winry needs some help in the kitchen."

"There's a good girl," Edward crooned as she left. Alphonse just stared at his brother, horrified.

"They are people, Ed. She's not a puppet; she doesn't exist for your amusement. Or for you to feed on whenever you want." Alphonse whispered the last part, as if afraid of being overheard, but really angry at his brother's lack of respect for human life. Edward simply reclined into the sofa and looked up at the ceiling.

"Sure she does, Al, all the little humans do. They're whatever I want them to be; they're mine for the taking."

Alphonse stood up and pushed Edward's legs off the sofa.

"All right, Ed, you've had your fun. You used Elicia, you got to me and Winry, good for you. Now it's time for you to leave."

Edward stood chest to chest with his brother, staring him right in the eyes, malice dancing in his own.

"Fine, I'll leave, and that's not a problem Alphonse because... I've been invited in. And I'll come back tomorrow night, and the night after, and the night after that, and the night after that and I will do with your little cheerleader whatever I want to do. Because that is what is normal to me."

* * *

Later that night, once everyone had left and before Riza was home, Winry and Alphonse were sitting together in her bedroom, discussing the relative success of the evening.

"Tonight wasn't so bad. I had fun, and so did Paninya." Winry smiled.

"Well two out of three isn't bad."

Winry hit Alphonse with a pillow. "Come on, you and Paninya were getting on great. And your brother isn't as bad as you make him out to be."

"Then I must be _really_ badmouthing Edward."

They both laughed, and Alphonse pulled Winry into a hug, which turned into a kiss, which turned into a passionate embrace. They climbed onto the bed from where they were sitting on the floor, Winry lay on top of Alphonse as he tried to sit up, as their tongue's fought for dominance in each other mouths. Breaking apart for the briefest of moments, Alphonse removed Winry's shirt, and she then did the same for him. But when Winry lifted the shirt above his head, she found it was Edward's face that smiled at her; she fell backwards and screamed.

Winry woke screaming, the dream, no nightmare, fresh in her mind; Edward's face still leering at her. Why on Earth was she dreaming of Edward? Of course during the evening she had realised she had misjudged Edward, but she didn't yet think of him as a friend, and she certainly didn't think of him _that _way. Hell, she wasn't even sure yet if things were going to go that far with Alphonse. She needed to clear her head and getting up to fetch a glass of water Winry didn't notice the crow sitting outside her window.

Alphonse meanwhile, in reality having gone home much earlier that evening, was sitting as his desk in his room, writing in his diary. The discovery that Edward was feeding on Elicia and making her forget had disturbed Alphonse; he had never known his brother to do anything other than drain people dry and cover his tracks. The thought that his brother was keeping someone like that and using them as his own personal buffet, well he didn't like to think about it.

"_There must be some shred of humanity left inside my brother. Somewhere. I keep hoping. But I how do I make him see it? And how do I protect her?_"


	11. Chapter Ten: Match Abandoned

**I'm so sorry I didn't get this chapter done in time for New Year's, I had quite a lot going on in my personal life and suffered a bit of writers block especially with the end of this chapter, but finally it is done. Now that Christmas and New Year are done with I hope to have more time to write and hopefully the story will be updated fairly regularly, but at the end of the day it will get updated when it gets updated, and that's when I have a chapter finished. I won't upload a chapter until I am at least 99.9% happy with it and that's because I don't want to be producing sub-standard material for all you lovely readers. I must thank RisingDarkAngel for her continued support and kind messages, they really do put a smile on my face, and also Shikamaru-Kagome for their very kind review. Big hugs for both of you! *hug* And if you want to review after the end of this chapter, please please do, I really do appreciate every review/comment I get, and if you're really good I may even attempt some art for this story...**

Chapter Ten

Match Abandoned

A week had come and gone since the half successful dinner. In that time Alphonse and Paninya had been getting along famously, much to Winry's pleasure, and they would often be found discussing witches and history. Winry and Alphonse had been growing closer too; Winry once accompanying him to rugby training, and Alphonse even came to watch Winry at cheerleading practice. Though he could see she didn't enjoy it, he didn't want to say anything for fear of upsetting her. She'd had more than enough upset in her life already, and Alphonse was determined that she not have any more. Protecting her from Edward was his main priority, and as far as he was aware, Edward had not made good on his threat to return to Winry's, but that was only because Winry hadn't told him about the original nightmare, and the three others involving Edward she had since. She too, didn't want to say anything for fear of upsetting him. She could see that Alphonse and Edward's relationship was civil at best, and she didn't want to do or say anything that might cause them to fight, or worse, for Alphonse to think she was cheating on him.

Alphonse had certainly made an impression on the rugby team, mostly for the good, but Selim and Kimbley were irked by his natural talent, and did everything they could to scupper the boy. Eventually though, Kimbley had to admit defeat, and giving in to Russell's demands, included Alphonse in the team for that night's game. Not to start mind you, Kimbley wasn't prepared to give Alphonse that much credit yet. That evening, as what appeared to be the whole town turned out to watch the game, Winry found Alphonse all geared up, pacing nervously in the car park.

"Ooh, look at you!" She cooed as she walked over to him. "You look hot in a rugby shirt."

Alphonse embraced her and they kissed. It was only then that he noticed she was wearing jeans and a grey jacket, not her cheerleading uniform as he had expected.

"I thought you were supposed to be cheerleading tonight? Did Elicia keep you off the team?"

"Nope, I quit. I'm a quitter." Winry beamed.

"Don't say that, you are most certainly not a quitter, Winry Rockbell. You suffered a great loss which changed you; you're not the same person. You should be looking ahead, starting over. _Not_ quitting, entirely different thing OK?"

"OK, Al," Winry chuckled.

Alphonse's face, if it was possible, turned more serious and nervous than it had been a moment ago. Beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead, and he turned bright red as he nervously rubbed his neck.

"Listen, I hope you don't think this is too soon, or too weird, but I, uh, I wanted you to have this."

Alphonse drew his left hand out of his pocket, upon which Winry noticed was a silver ring identical to Edward's on his middle finger, and opened it to reveal an antique-looking, ornately decorated necklace.

"Oh my God. It's beautiful." Winry breathed, barely able to speak she was so awed by its beauty.

"It's something that I've had since forever, and, well, I've never wanted to give it to anyone until now. I'd be honoured if you'd wear it for me, for... good luck."

Winry nodded her approval; her ability to talk had abandoned her at Alphonse's gallant gesture. No one had ever given her anything like this, and she was genuinely touched that someone would think so much of her to give her such a gift. Her eyes never left the necklace as Alphonse held it up in the moonlight for her to see properly before he gently placed it round her neck and did up the clasp, Winry holding her hair out of the way for him. A faint aroma reached her nose as she looked down and fingered at the stunning piece of jewellery she now wore.

"Is that rose I can smell?"

"No, it's, uh, it's an herb. Do you like it?" Alphonse asked anxiously.

"I love it," she confirmed.

"Also I... I wanted to thank you for pushing me to join the rugby team. I'm glad I did it."

Winry smiled. "We're a pair; I quit, you start."

"Right. We're a work in progress, we'll figure it out." Alphonse chuckled as Winry pulled him into a tight hug, and then silenced him with a kiss.

* * *

A large crowd had gathered to watch the game; word had gotten around of a new kid in town who could play rugby like a pro, and hopes were high that he would be the magic talisman that would end the Resembool Ranger's poor run and lead them into glory. The excitement had already reached fever-pitch, even though it was a good hour until kick off, and Kimbley was more than happy to bask in a moment of glory, and give an uplifting "battle speech". He took his position in front of the small but packed stand.

"Alright, settle down, settle down!" Kimbley shouted in his authorative don't-mess-with-me-I'm-a-teacher voice, which soon calmed the crowds enough to allow him to speak. "Now let's be honest, in the past we used to let other teams come into our town and we would barely put up a fight. But that is about to change. Judging from the crowds tonight, I can see that word has gotten around of our new golden boy; a new openside flanker, who starts tonight and who I know will blow the competition out of the water!"

Selim, along with the rest of the team, was standing behind Kimbley, flanking him some personal guard.

"This is ridiculous," he whispered to Russell who was standing next to him. "He can't start Elric, he's only been in the team a week!"

"Like I said before Selim, Kimbley isn't the only decision maker," Russell answered brusquely.

Kimbley, unaware of the dissention in his ranks, continued with his speech.

"Now there have been plenty of you, I'm sure, that have been waiting for us to put a check in the win column and I have one thing to tell you: these Ranger's take no prisoners, and tonight the Central Lions will be the first to go down!"

Kimbley threw his arms into the air as the crowd roared in approval. Whilst Kimbley revelled in the applause of the crowd the team dispersed, Selim bumping straight into Rose Thomas.

"Hey, Selim," she smiled not so innocently. "You look down. What's wrong?"

"Nothing that concerns you, Thomas."

Ling suddenly appeared behind Selim, a bottle of vodka in his hand. "Hey, don't talk to Rose like that, she's only asking how you are."

"You really want to pick a fight with me Ling? Here in front of everyone?"

Rose rather gallantly stepped in between the two boys, who sizing each other up like rutting stags. "Guys, just cool it. Ling, get lost I can handle myself."

Ling looked crestfallen, but began to turn away, just as Selim cut through his last straw.

"Don't go too far, Ling, you can have her when I'm done."

A red mist descended upon Ling, the vodka bottle fell forgotten from his hand and smashed upon the ground. In one smooth movement he turned around and landed a punch right into Selim's jaw. Selim recovered quickly enough though, and threw a punch of his own, and soon enough the two boys were wrestling each other, throwing wild punches and kicks everywhere. Rose was screaming at them to stop, whilst a small crowd gathered around them. Selim managed to throw Ling to the floor just as Alphonse got through the crowd and pulled him away from the boy, Winry kneeling down to tend to her brother. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw what he was planning; and before she could stop him Ling had grabbed the broken neck of the bottle and thrashed out at Selim.

"Ling, no!"

Alphonse sensed Ling coming before Winry screamed, and pushed Selim out of harm's way, he instead bearing the brunt of Ling's attack. Ling knelt, panting for breath, and stared in shock at the deep gash he had made in Alphonse's hand. Alphonse too, was transfixed by the wound on his hand, while Russell came to take Selim away from the scene, and Winry pulling her brother away to see if he was hurt.

"You're bleeding, Ling, you need to see a doctor."

"I'm fine."

"Yeah, you smell fine," she said angrily. "How much have you been drinking?"

"Just drop it, alright?" Ling shouted as he ran off.

Exasperated Winry turned to check if Alphonse was injured. She could see blood dripping from his fingers.

"Al, your hand!"

"No, no, it's fine, honestly." Alphonse desperately tried to pull his hand away from Winry, as she just as desperately tried to take hold of it and examine it.

"It is _not_ fine, Al. Is it deep? Just let me see it and I can clean it up for you!"

Forcefully she pulled at his hand and looked at his palm, which didn't even have so much as a paper cut, let alone a deep, freely bleeding gash.

Winry looked confused, she had definitely seen the blood on his hands, and she was sure there had been a wound, she was sure Ling had cut him.

"But... I saw you get hurt, Al, there was blood everywhere..."

"Ling missed, it's not my blood. I'm fine." Alphonse breathed a sigh of relief that Winry had not seen his wound heal itself; his secret was still safe. But at the same time he caught his breath in apprehension that Winry would not believe his story.

"No, no, no," Winry shook her head. "I saw it; the glass cut your hand. It was bleeding..."

Alphonse took hold of Winry's shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Winry, it's OK, it was a close call but Ling missed. I'm OK. Look, it's almost kick off time, so I'll see you after the game. OK?"

Winry wasn't convinced. She had seen Ling cut him, she was sure of it; she'd seen a wound on his hand. Even if Ling had missed him, where had the blood come from? Ling hadn't been bleeding heavily enough for it to be his blood, and besides Alphonse hadn't touched him. Deciding that now was not the best time for an argument she let it lie and wished Alphonse luck for the game.

"Hey! Where have you been hiding?" Paninya called to Winry as she wandered over to see what all the ruckus had been about, already in her cheerleading uniform, her Automail legs shining in the floodlights. Paninya wasn't ashamed of her legs like many people with Automail, who often sought to hide it. In fact she proudly displayed them whenever she could as she felt lucky to have them; they enabled her to walk on her own two feet, and she was proud to show off how she could stand tall, a trait which Winry greatly admired her for.

"Just the woman I wanted to see. Can I ask you a question, and you give me a serious, no-joke response?"

Winry sounded more serious than Paninya had ever heard her, and concerned she immediately gave her friend her full and utmost attention.

"Of course, what's the matter?"

"The bad feeling you had before, when you touched Alphonse..."

"Oh, Winry, forget I said that. The whole dinner party totally won me over..."

"No, Paninya, I'm being serious here. What was it? Did you see something, or was it just a feeling?"

Paninya thought for a moment, whilst Winry waited anxiously for answer she knew wouldn't come. Paninya wondered if she should lie to her friend; reassure her that her previous misgivings about Alphonse were unfounded and nothing to dwell on. But she could sense that Winry wanted the truth, whether she wanted to hear it or not.

She sighed, "It wasn't clear, like a picture. Like today, I keep seeing those numbers I told you about, 3, 10, 66, I can visualise them clearly. But when I touched Alphonse, it was a feeling... It vibrated though me, and it was cold, and it... it..."

"It what, Paninya?"

"It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like."

Both girls just stared at each other, both afraid of the truth, but both glad that it had been told; Paninya glad that she no longer carried that burden alone, and Winry glad that she was not crazy for thinking something was amiss with Alphonse. She knew that Paninya wouldn't lie to her, not about something like that.

* * *

Winry was making her way to the stands, Paninya having left her to join the rest of the cheerleaders, when all of a sudden someone grabbed her and pulled her behind the bleachers.

"Hello, Winry. Fancy seeing you here," crooned a smooth voice.

"Shitting hell, Edward! You scared me! What are you doing here?"

Edward smiled at her apologetically. "I'm hiding from Elicia."

"Why?" replied Winry abruptly, angry at him for grabbing hold of her and scaring the living daylights out of her.

"I needed a break. She talks more than I can listen, and I'm a good listener."

"That could be a sign, you know."

"Well, she's awfully young," Edward stated, seemingly forgetting that Winry thought he wasn't much older than Elicia.

Winry looked perplexed. "She's only like a year younger than you."

"I mean I don't see a future for us; I think she'd drive me crazy."

"Elicia can be really shallow and immature at times, but we've been friends since we were babies and that means something to me, so I will not have you badmouth my friends in front of me."

Edward cowered for a moment at the dangerous look in her eyes, knowing in that instant that while she may not be able to cause him serious harm, she would make damn sure she hurt him. So in that moment he decided to make his move.

"Duly noted. I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable, Winry, that's not my intention."

"Yes it is, otherwise you wouldn't put an alternate meaning behind everything you say."

Edward sighed in well feigned defeat. "You're right. I do have other intentions, but so do you."

"Really?" Winry rolled her eyes.

"Uh huh. I see them. You want me." Edward moved a step closer to her, and Winry in turn moved a step back.

"Excuse me?"

Edward continued to move closer to Winry, and this time she didn't move away. His golden eyes were locked on her sapphire ones as he began to work his compulsion on her.

"I get to you, you find yourself drawn to me." He purred in his most seductive voice. "You think about me even when you don't want to think about me. And right now... you want to kiss me."

He leaned towards her, thinking his work was done, his right hand resting on her cheek he closed his eyes as he prepared for the kiss, but instead he was unprepared for Winry's hand as he slapped him across the face. He reeled backwards, his hand instinctively going up to his face, and he looked at her in shock and anger. Winry stood facing him, her eyes ablaze with fury and her whole body shaking with rage. God, if only she had her wrench, then she could have really let him have it!

"What the hell are you playing at Edward?" She screamed at him. "I don't know what kind of game you're trying to play with Alphonse, but I am not going to be a part of it. And I don't know what happened in the past, but let's get one thing straight... I am not _that_ Winry!"

With that Winry stormed off. Edward watched her leave with a slight grin on his face, which soon turned into a great toothy smirk. Winry had pissed him off, and now someone was going to pay. _This is going to be a challenge_, he thought. And there was nothing Edward Elric liked better than a challenge.

* * *

Alphonse was just about to enter the changing rooms when Russell caught up with him at the door.

"You going to be alright to play, Alphonse?" he asked, silver eyes bright with concern both for Alphonse as a friend and as his star player.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." Alphonse showed Russell his healed hand for good measure.

Russell smiled, glad that Alphonse was uninjured. "It was good of you to step in back there."

"Someone's got to watch his back," Alphonse shrugged modestly. "It's the least I could do, for Winry and Ling, given all that they've been through."

"Well I'm glad you're there to keep an eye on him, he could use a male role-model, I just wish he'd come to me. Anyway, best of luck for tonight, you'll be fine."

Russell shook Alphonse's hand before walking into the dressing room. Alphonse was about to follow him, but he froze and stomach dropped like a stone when he heard sarcastic applause behind him.

"Well isn't that nice?" Edward drawled as he approached his brother. "Alphonse joins a team, makes a friend. It's all so 'rah rah, go team, yeah!'"

"Not tonight, Edward. I'm done with you." Alphonse didn't even look at Edward, instead he just walked over the threshold of the changing rooms. But Edward wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Nice trick with Winry. Let me guess... vervain in the necklace? I don't know how you could have the gall to give her something of mother's, after what you did." Alphonse winced as if he had been physically struck, but turned to face Edward, angry at him for reminding him of something he'd rather forget. "I'll admit, I was surprised; it's been a long time since anyone's been able to resist my compulsion. Where'd you get it?" Edward finished menacingly.

"Like I'd tell you that. I've got to have one trump card at least."

"Well I suppose I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way. Or I could just... eat her." Edward grinned wickedly.

"You're not going to hurt her, Ed."

"No?"

"No. And you know why? Because deep down inside you, there is a part of you that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you; that you truly had become the monster that you pretend to be."

"Who's pretending?"

"Then kill me, Ed."

"Well, Al, I'm... I'm tempted."

"No you're not. You've had lifetimes to kill me and yet, here I am, still alive. And there you are; you're still haunting me. After 146 years! Winry Pierce is dead, and you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, Edward, is your humanity."

It was most unfortunate that Kimbley chose that moment to come out of the changing rooms and find Alphonse, as he was about to find out to the cost of life that you don't want to interrupt a conversation between vampires.

"Elric! What the hell are you doing out here? You've got a game to play!"

Edward looked at Alphonse, standing still as a statue, his face impassive. "If that's my humanity, then what's this?"

Edward was instantly upon Kimbley, who didn't even have time to cry out, so quickly had Edward sunk his fangs into his neck, his eyes wide with shock and pain as he was drained of his blood.

"No!" screamed Alphonse, as Edward greedily fed upon Kimbley, whose eyes had dulled by the time Edward dropped his body to the ground as if he were discarding an empty drinks can. He looked at Alphonse, who stood staring in horror at his brother, eyes dark and Kimbley's blood staining his teeth crimson while it dripped steadily from his chin.

"Anyone. Anytime. Any place." And with that Edward disappeared into the night.

For a moment Alphonse stood frozen in shock, staring at the point where his brother had vanished, before he came to his senses and went to Kimbley's aid. He knew that it would be too late for him, but still he had to try.

"Somebody help!" he called as he pressed a hand to Kimbley's neck, attempting to staunch the little remaining blood that was still trying to escape from the man. The irony tang of blood was creeping into Alphonse's nostrils, all his predatory senses telling him that here was a free meal, take it before the killer returned to claim it. With well practiced effort Alphonse pushed those thoughts out of his mind as Russell came rushing out of the changing rooms to see what had happened.

"I found him lying here," Alphonse lied. "Someone must have attacked him. Call an ambulance, quickly!"

* * *

The ambulance arrived too late to save Kimbley, and instead of taking him to the hospital it took him straight to the morgue. Police had already cordoned off the area and were questioning Alphonse and other potential witnesses. Word had soon gotten around that someone had been attacked, most likely by whatever had been behind the previous attacks, and a crowd was beginning to gather around the changing rooms. Despite a few mutterings from the more insensitive players and members of the public, it was clear that the evening's game was cancelled. Paninya, along with the other cheerleaders, had found herself drawn into the crowd that was milling around where Kimbley's body had been removed. Though she hadn't liked Kimbley she was still shaken by his sudden death, and walking away from the scene, she saw something that made her very marrow freeze. On the entrance gate to the stand right next to the changing rooms was a sign; gate 3. Nearby was a police car, bearing the insignia RPD 10, and parked in bay number 66. Paninya shivered. 3. 10. 66. Shaking her head and fighting off fear, she left the ground, wanting to be home, safe and away from anything to do with witches or psychic premonitions. This couldn't be happening to her, could it?

Later, after Alphonse had finished being questioned by the police, he found Winry scared and upset in the car park. He put his arms around her, and she began to cry.

"What kind of animal could be doing this?" she sobbed. "Why would it come out of the woods and attack someone in the middle of town?"

"I don't know." Alphonse said as he soothingly stroked her hair. Winry composed herself, and looked up at Alphonse, her eyes red from crying.

"I was so sure that you cut your hand. I saw it."

Alphonse sighed; clearly she had not believed his story. "I'm fine. _We're_ fine, that's all that matters."

Alphonse and Winry stood hugging for a while, reassuring each other that they were unhurt and still there, before Winry called for a taxi to take them both home. It had been an eventful evening for both of them, and though it wasn't late and the journey didn't take long Winry fell asleep on Alphonse's shoulder, who smiled as he looked down at her, truly grateful that she already trusted him and felt safe enough in his presence to be so close to him, and he brushed a stray hair out of her sleeping face. He regretted having to wake her as they pulled up at her house, so peaceful did she look rested against him. Despite Winry's protestations Alphonse walked her to her door, and wouldn't get back in the taxi until she waved him away from the living room window. When he arrived home Alphonse went straight to bed, exhausted from all that had transpired that evening, but finding that he couldn't sleep he turned to his diary.

"_I thought that there was hope that somewhere, deep inside, something inside Edward was still human, still normal. But I was wrong. There's nothing human left in Edward. No good, no kindness. No love. Only a monster who must be stopped._"

After explaining to Riza what had happened that night, as she had only got vague news reports and friends calling with various rumours, Winry went to bed tired and worn out, and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Out for the count, Winry was not aware of the shadow that fell across the moonlight that shone through her window; was not aware of the figure that silently crept into her room. Edward stood over Winry for a while, watching her sleep with fascination dancing in his eyes. Whether he seduced her or killed her, he would have this girl; Edward Elric always got what he wanted. He walked over to her, and as gently as Alphonse had, brushed away the hair that had fallen in front of her sleeping face. Winry stirred in her sleep and opened her bleary eyes, thinking Ling was trying to wake her, but found she was alone, the only movement the curtains dancing in the night breeze drifting in through her open window. Thinking she must have dreamt it, she turned over and fell back asleep.


	12. Chapter Eleven: Preparing for the Ball

**This chapter has kept me up late many a night, but finally it is done! A slightly longer chapter than usual for once, I couldn't find a way split the Founder's Party episode of TVD into three like I normally do so split it into preparations for the ball (this chapter) and the ball itself (next chapter). I really hope I've done this chapter justice, we've got some mild vampire Ed/Winry action, friendships put to the test, Ed/Al animosity and another familiar FMA face is making their entrance. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated, and enjoy!**

Chapter Eleven

Preparing for the Ball

Winry was woken by a cold breeze blowing in through her open window. Shivering slightly, she snuggled deeper into her bed, wrapping her duvet around her. A noise reached her ears, causing her to frown as she tried to get back to sleep. It sounded like someone speaking softly, not enough so that Winry could hear what they were saying, but just loud enough to prevent her from nodding off. Groaning, she got up to go and tell whoever it was to shut up, most likely it was Ling coming home forgetting that normal people sleep at such ungodly hours.

"Ling? Is that you?" she called, quietly so as not to wake Riza. Winry was not greeted with a reply, but the voice continued. Sounding like it was coming from the living room Winry descended the stairs to investigate.

"Hello? Who's there? Ling if it's you I can tell you right now it's not funny."

Still no one answered her. Feeling slightly exposed in just her pyjamas and without her wrench Winry crept into the living room, praying that it wasn't actually a burglar. Winry breathed a sigh of relief as she discovered that Riza had left the TV on, but froze as she saw her own face on the screen.

"This is Kain Fuery coming to you live from the streets of Risembool with breaking news of another deadly animal attack. The wild animal currently terrorising the citizens of Risembool has claimed yet another victim, local college student Winry Rockbell."

A chill ran down Winry's back as she heard her name mentioned in the same sentence as the word victim. That couldn't be possible, she was standing right there in here in own living room. She pinched herself hoping it was just a bad dream and she would soon wake up.

"Police are certain that forensic evidence will confirm that this is the same animal responsible for other recent attacks."

Winry stared transfixed and scared at the television, oblivious of the shadow that moved across the wall behind her, as someone silently entered the room.

"You know what's coming next," whispered a silky smooth voice in Winry's ear.

Winry screamed and ran, more scared than she ever had been in her life, only to be confronted by the shadowy figure at the bottom of the stairs. She turned and fled to the kitchen, still screaming, but found her path blocked again. Why hadn't anyone heard her scream? Tears of fear cascading down her cheeks Winry made for the basement, only to be grabbed from behind and her head pulled to the side, exposing her neck to the intruder. Terrified Winry looked up through bloodshot eyes to see Edward's demonic face smiling down at her with that wicked smirk he had, before he plunged his fangs into her throat...

"Ah!" Alphonse woke with a scream.

"Bad dream?" Edward motioned sarcastically. He was sitting on Alphonse's bed flicking through a magazine while Alphonse sat with his head in his hands at his desk. He had to his misfortune fallen asleep there last night and was now paying for it with aching muscles, though those were the least of his worries.

"Do you know how easy it was to get into your head just now?" Edward taunted, not looking up from his magazine. "You really need some human blood. It might even the playing field. Rugby reference, or is too soon?"

Alphonse looked at Edward in disgust and without thinking launched a silver letter opener at his brother, landing a hit in his shoulder.

"All right, I deserved that." Edward sighed and pulled the blade out. "But I just thought I'd let you know, they caught the animal responsible for killing Kimbley and all those other people."

"What are you talking about?" Alphonse asked his brother suspiciously.

"It was a mountain lion. Really big one. It attacked a hunter this morning, but he managed to shoot it. 'Deadly beast captured; all's well in Risembool.' It's all over the news, if you'd care to get up."

"Why would you cover your tracks?"

"I've decided to stay a while," Edward said getting up and approaching Alphonse. "I'm just having way too much fun here with you and Winry."

Alphonse smiled in a good imitation of one of Edward's smirks. "Can't touch her now."

"The vervain keeps me out of her head, but maybe that's not my target. Believe it or not, Al, some girls don't need my persuasion. Some girls just can't resist my good looks, my style and my gentlemanly charm."

Edward made to replace the letter opener on the desk, but instead planted it deep in Alphonse's shoulder.

"This was my favourite shirt, Al. Dick move."

Edward left Alphonse gasping in pain as he pulled the letter opener from his shoulder. Looking down at the blade Alphonse thought "The real animal is still out there, challenging me to fight back. But how do I stop a monster without becoming one myself?"

* * *

Winry was at the kitchen table polishing a silver brooch as she watched the morning news; Sheriff Hughes was being interviewed by a short reporter with dark hair and glasses.

"I can confirm that in the early hours of this morning a twelve foot mountain lion attacked a hunter and was subsequently shot and killed. I have been informed by the hospital that the hunter is in a stable condition."

"Scum ball. Scum bucket." Riza seethed as she entered the kitchen, directing barely disguised spite and hatred at the television.

"What did Sheriff Hughes do to warrant that rant?" Winry asked, shocked at her Aunt's sudden outburst.

"I'm not referring to Sheriff Hughes. I meant the news guy, AKA Kain "Scum" Fuery. Did your mum ever tell you why I moved away from Risembool?"

"You were an item?" Winry giggled. "He's cute. I guess."

"Oh no! Nothing like that!" Riza said pulling a face. "It was purely a business relationship between us, and he cleaned out my bank account. He is not cute; there is nothing cute about him. He's an evil genius. What are you doing with this stuff?"

Riza indicated the brooch Winry was polishing and began rifling through the box of jewellery and other precious items that sat on the table.

"I got it from the safe deposit box yesterday. Mum had told Mrs Bradley she would loan some of the jewellery to the Founder's Council for the heritage display." Winry held up a gold ring she had already polished. "Is this Grandma Beth's wedding ring?"

"Originally it was your Great Great Grandma Mary's wedding ring." Riza answered.

Ling finally decided to grace the kitchen with his presence and immediately fished out an antique brooch from the box.

"Cool, how much do you think this stuff would go for at an auction?"

Winry instantly took the brooch back and fixed him with one of her death glares. "You're not going to find out."

Ling was now studying a silver pocket watch. "This stuff is mum and dad's Winry, you can't just give it away."

"I'm not giving it away, Ling. It's called a loan."

The doorbell rang and Riza went to answer it. A few moments later she re-entered the kitchen closely followed by Alphonse.

He smiled. "Morning, Winry."

"Morning, Al," Winry smiled back. "Ling could you finish polishing that brooch?"

"Yeah, 'cause I've got nothing better to do." Ling muttered under his breath as Winry and Alphonse made their way upstairs.

Almost as soon as Winry had closed her door she was in Alphonse's arms, kissing him as hard as he was kissing her. She continued to press into him, her tongue fighting for dominance over his. They fell onto the bed, Alphonse on top of Winry. As Alphonse came up for air, he glanced his face in the mirror, and saw that his eyes were beginning to vamp out. Afraid for Winry he pushed her from him and turned away, breathing heavily and evenly to calm himself and curb his rising bloodlust.

"Are you OK, Al?" Winry asked, slightly hurt that Alphonse had pushed her away.

"I'm fine. Sorry, Winry." Alphonse apologised, still looking away and calming himself.

"Maybe we should press pause." Winry said, mistaking his reasons for needing to stop.

"You're probably right," Alphonse turned to her again, his eyes returned to normal. "That was getting a bit..."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

An awkward silence followed until...

"How do you look in a suit?" Winry wondered.

"I've been told I look quite handsome in a suit," Alphonse replied modestly.

"How about tomorrow night? Will you be my date to the Founder's Ball?"

"They still do that?" Alphonse asked without thinking.

"You've been before?"

"No, the Elric's don't get invited anymore."

"Well this year there's a heritage project that meant a lot to my mum. She was majorly involved with the Founder's Council and the Founder's Ball was her favourite party. I know, it sounds really boring but-"

"I would be honoured to accompany you the Founder's Ball, Miss Rockbell." Alphonse took her hand and kissed it.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr Elric." Winry beamed.

* * *

Whilst Alphonse had only just discovered that the Founder's Ball was still held and that he would be attending for the second time, Edward was preparing his date for the Ball. He was lying on Elicia's bed reading a book rather half-heartedly while Elicia tried on various dresses in effort to meet Edward's approval. Her current choice was a light yellow spaghetti strap cocktail dress.

"What do you think of this one?" she asked as she spun in front of her full length mirror.

Edward barely glanced at her before giving his disapproving opinion.

"I told you, no yellow. Jaundice. Go for the red."

"I don't like the red one," Elicia pouted.

"Well, I do." Edward said, his voice raising a dangerous octave. "And if I'm going to be your date..."

"You cannot be my date. My dad's going to be there, and he is a very proud gun owner, and partnering that with chronic fatherly over-protectiveness will not lead to a pleasant evening for you."

"I went to a _lot_ of trouble to ensure this party wasn't cancelled. It's very important I be there." Edward looked into her wide green eyes. "Please take me."

Elicia's face lit up as if she had had a sudden and brilliant idea. "You should come to the Founder's Ball with me."

"Not if you're wearing that dress. And you can't wear heels; I won't have my date being taller than me." Edward returned to his book as Elicia took off the dress and replaced it in her rather sizable wardrobe. "What's so special about this Bella girl anyway? This guy makes me ashamed to be a vampire named Edward."

Elicia answered from the depths of her wardrobe. "You have to read the first book first; it won't make sense if you don't."

"I miss Anne Rice. She was so on it."

"How come you don't sparkle?" Elicia asked as she emerged with a strapless red dress in her hands.

"Because I live in the real world where vampires burn in the sun."

"But you go in the sun."

Edward held up his right hand. "I have a ring that protects me. Long story."

Elicia looked at herself in the mirror, studying the bite marks and bruises that lay on her neck and shoulders. Edward had certainly left his mark on her; it was almost like he was using his vampiric love bites to brand her as his property.

"Will these bites turn me into a vampire?" she asked quietly.

Edward sighed. "It's more complicated than that. You'd have to feed on my blood, then die, and then feed on a human... it's a convoluted process. This book, by the way, has it _completely _wrong."

Elicia sat down on the bed and took the book from Edward, tossing it aside as she leaned down so that her face was close to his. "You can be very sweet when you want to be."

"Yes, I can be sweet." Edward pulled her into a kiss.

"Are you going to kill me?" Elicia whispered.

"Yes." Edward answered matter of factly. "But not yet."

"Why?"

"Because there's something I need you to do for me."

"Anything."

"How good are you at poking your nose into places it doesn't belong?"

"Oh, I'm excellent," Elicia smiled.

"Good," Edward replied as he pulled her into another, more passionate kiss. He soon worked his way down to her neck, branding Elicia with another love bite. Edward hadn't had breakfast that morning after all.

* * *

"You're taking Edward to the Founder's Ball?" Paninya exclaimed as she and Elicia arrived at the Bistro for lunch. "What about me?"

"Go with Winry," Elicia shrugged not realising how much she had hurt her friend. For as long as they could remember the three girls had always gone to the Founder's Ball with each other; dates had never been an issue before

"She's asking Alphonse."

"OK, go by yourself."

"Gee, thanks, Elicia." Paninya answered sarcastiscally. "What about your dad? He can't be OK with the idea of you going with Edward?"

"I'm supposed to care why?" Elicia nonchalantly looked at the menu, hoping to disguise the face she made when she realised she still had to tell her father about Edward.

"He's older, sexy danger guy. Scratch that, he's a guy. Who, by gender, is trying to take his daughter away from him."

"Older, sexy danger guy?" Elicia chose to ignore the second part of Paninya's statement. "Is that an official witch twitter tweet?"

"No more witch jokes, please, Elicia! The whole Mr Kimbley prediction thing has really freaked me out."

"Sorry. And Edward's not dangerous, he's got a lot of issues with his brother, that's all. You know, proper deep-rooted drama."

"Like?" Paninya pressed Elicia, her interest peaked at the potential piece of gossip.

"I'm not supposed to say anything..."

"Elicia Hughes, when have you ever kept a secret in your life?"

For the briefest of moments Elicia looked offended at Paninya's remark, but then saw the truth in the statement and shrugged in agreement.

"OK, but you can't tell Winry!"

Paninya smiled and signed zipping her lips as Elicia told the lies Edward had fed her.

Whilst Elicia was telling Paninya Edward's fake secrets Selim was harassing Rose who was desperately trying to work around him.

"So, what are you getting me for my birthday?" Selim drawled as he put his arms around Rose.

"Ugh, some class. I suppose you're all over me now because you're out of sight of mummy and daddy. You wouldn't even look at me when I served you!" Rose motioned in the direction of the table where Mayor Bradley and his wife were sitting, their backs to the couple.

"So?" Selim asked callously.

"So you treat me like trash and I'm sick of it."

"I don't think you're trash."

"Really? Then who are you taking to the Founder's Ball?"

Selim rolled his eyes, completely missing her point. "Rose Thomas, do you want me to ask you to the Founder's Ball?"

"No." She huffed. "It'll be stupid and lame."

"True, but it'll be less stupid and lame if you were there." Selim gave Rose a half-hearted kiss which she did not return. Noticing his mother looking for him and realising his excuse of going to the bathroom had bought all the time it was going to he left Rose without a backward glance. Rose sighed and went to serve a customer at the bar. The customer turned out to be Ling, who had heard the entire conversation.

"You realise you had to ask him to ask you, right?" He said fixing her with a pitying look. "You think if you dress up like a respectable young lady he'll finally treat you like one?"

"Screw you, Ling." Rose turned to walk away, but found herself stopped by Ling leaning over the bar and grabbing her arm.

"You know you're making the wrong choice, yet you make it anyway. It's sad."

Rose looked down at her feet, unable to look Ling in the eye. Unable to look at the truth she knew she was denying.

* * *

Edward decided to spend the afternoon invading his brother's privacy, yet again, and was reclined on one of the living room sofas looking through Alphonse's college books. He was halfway through a rather large tome on alchemy when Alphonse arrived home.

"What are you doing?" Alphonse said, surprised that Edward was reading a book on alchemy. Unlike Alphonse, Edward had shunned anything and everything to do with alchemy after they had been turned.

"Just looking through your school books. Out of interest. I can't believe how much this country has dumbed down in the last hundred years. This is supposed to be advanced alchemy, yet they haven't mentioned anything more advanced than making bread from grass! And this is supposed to be a book for State Alchemists to study from and there's nothing of any military use in here."

"Well, not every alchemist can be as brilliant as the great Fullmetal Alchemist." Alphonse snarked, the name causing Edward to uncharacteristically flinch at memories buried deep.

"I told you to _never_ mention that title, Al," Edward whispered dangerously. This time Alphonse was the one to flinch in fear. "Why you want to go to college is beyond me. I mean I could understand Central University. Actually, no I didn't get that either."

Edward seemed to have moved on, but there was still a dangerous gleam in his eye which Alphonse didn't like. He had to do something about his brother, and soon.

"Well, I really should have a shower." Edward threw the alchemy book to other side of the room, Alphonse wincing as it hit the wall. "Need to start getting ready for the Ball."

"Y...you're going to the Founder's Ball?" Alphonse choked in surprise.

"Of course, Elicia asked me." Edward smiled as he walked past his brother into the hall. "I'll give you a shout when I'm done."

Alphonse went to pick up his book from the floor and laid it on a table, then went into the kitchen and drained a large bottle of blood from the fridge. He would need his strength for what he planned to do that night, and to cope with being in the presence of so many humans. As soon as he heard the shower go on upstairs Alphonse crept down to the cellar, praying that the noise of the shower would cover his tracks, but still he kept as quiet as he could just in case Edward was trying to listen in on him. Alphonse knew he couldn't stop Edward himself; it would take human blood for him to be as powerful as his brother, and that was a route he was not willing to try. He did, however, have his trump card.

Vervain was incredibly toxic to vampires; it burned their flesh when touched and if ingested it would severely weaken them, even kill in extreme cases. Few people in Risembool knew of vervain and its properties as it hadn't grown in the area since 1865, when Edward had personally seen to it that every plant within fifty miles was destroyed. Knowing that one day he may have to... subdue... Edward, Alphonse had harvested and propagated some vervain at great personal risk to himself, not only from the vervain, but also from incurring Edward's wrath. For several decades now Alphonse had sporadically returned home to tend the plants he secretly kept in the cellar. Picking a few flowers, a task made incredibly difficult with thick leather gloves, Alphonse crushed them into a small glass phial. He was ready for phase one of his plan.

* * *

Selim Bradley was walking toward the large yellow house with his hands in pockets in a sad attempt at a strop. His mother had sent him on an errand, something she hadn't done since he was a child, and to add salt to the wound she had sent him to Ling Yao's house. He reluctantly sauntered up to Winry's front door and knocked sharply. He waited a little while for an answer, but was about to give up and go home when Winry opened the door, clearly in the process of getting ready for the ball as she was wrapped in a dressing gown and had her hair up in a towel turban.

"Hey, Selim. What's up?"

"I'm here for my mum," he answered brusquely. "She says you've got a box of stuff for her."

"It's not _stuff_, Selim," she scolded him, disappearing for a moment before returning with a large cardboard box in her arms.

"It's my family's memories. _Please_ be careful."

Ling suddenly appeared beside Winry. "Yeah, careful with it, dick."

Selim moved as if to push Ling, but Winry put herself firmly between the two boys.

"Not now, guys, alright? Leave it."

"I'm fine," Selim held a hand up protesting his innocence. "He's just being a punk."

"Yeah? I got your punk." Ling started toward Selim, but Winry stood firm and held him back.

"Ling, calm down! Look, Selim, perhaps you should go. Tell your mum I'll see her tonight."

Selim nodded and turned away down the yard. Winry gave her brother a severe look before returning upstairs, while Ling remained at the door, as if to make sure Selim left. Selim stopped suddenly and turned to face Ling.

"Would it make a difference if I told you I actually like Rose?"

"Not even if you meant it."

Winry returned to her room to find Paninya, also in dressing gown and hair turban, trying out different perfumes. On discovering Elicia would be going to the ball with Edward, Winry had insisted Paninya go with Alphonse and herself; she didn't want her best friend to be left out, and she wanted another pair of eyes to look out for Elicia.

"What do you think? Delicate Flower or Naughty Vixen?" Paninya asked.

"Oh, tough one. Can we mix them?" Winry joked.

Paninya smiled at Winry. "Look at you, getting all pretty for your date. You seem happy-ish."

"I am... ish. But don't think you'll ruin my happy-ish-ness by telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door."

Paninya pulled a face, reluctant to say what she wanted to say. "I don't want to ruin the night, I'll tell you in the morning, yeah?"

"Paninya, out with it," Winry stated, folding her arms impatiently.

"Oh, all right!" Paninya gave in. "But this goes no futher, Elicia will kill me if it gets back to Edward that she squealed. Apparently Alphonse has a very interesting back story."

"Really?" Winry rolled her eyes, guessing what was coming next.

"Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend?"

"I know that they both dated her and that's why they have issues."

"Yeah, they both dated her, but in the end she chose Edward, and that drove Alphonse mad. He did awful things to try and break them up; he manipulated her, filled her head with lies until she turned against Edward."

"That sounds like one person's side of the story, i.e. Edward's." Winry had sat down at her dressing table and looked at Paninya through the mirror.

"I just thought you should know," Paninya said apologetically.

"His past relationships are none of my business anyway."

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar! Then it is your business."

Winry turned to face Paninya and said sternly "Alphonse is none of those things."

"Yeah? You know that for certain?"

Winry couldn't answer that question, so chose to remain silent. The girls continued to get ready in silence, sporadically broken by attempts at conversation; consisting of either one of them asking the other's opinion on a dress or their make up. Some time later the telephone rang, which Winry quickly answered, Paninya earwigging on the call from the bathroom.

"Hello? Hi, Mrs Bradley... What do you mean?... Are you sure? Because I'm sure I put it in there... I'll have a look for it, I might have got it mixed in with some other things... I'll find it and bring it tonight... OK, bye."

Winry threw the phone down on her bed and stormed off in the direction of Ling's room.

"What's the matter?" Paninya enquired as she passed the bathroom.

"Ling," Winry stated.

"Ah."

Throwing open his door she found Ling lying on his bed with his headphones on, music blearing out from them. Picking up a book from the floor she threw it right at him, grabbing his attention.

"Hey! What was that for?" he complained as he sat up and removed his headphones.

"The pocket watch." Winry stood with her hands on her hips looking down at her brother like an accussing headmistress. "Where is it?"

Ling feigned confusion. "What watch?"

"The watch you stole from mum's box. Mrs Bradley just called me, freaking out. It was on the list of items to loan for the Ball, and she can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who's lost it."

"Maybe she did, maybe Selim took it." Ling shrugged.

"Don't even try that one Ling, you took it. If I go online, am I going to find it on eBay? Is that how you pay for your pot?"

Ling looked up at Winry, furious. He got up off his bed and went to his desk, lifting the lid and showed Winry the watch. Winry looked at Ling, guilt and relief written all over her face.

"I can't believe you'd think that of me Winry. I would _never_ sell this."

"Then why did you take it?"

"Because it's supposed to be mine. Dad always said that if anything happened to him this watch would be mine. He said it had been passed father to son for generations." Ling finished quietly.

Winry didn't know what to say. Ling knew he was a part of her family, they were brother and sister in all but DNA, but lately he had been saying things that made Winry think he was beginning to believe he wasn't a part of the family any more. Perhaps the watch gave him the proof he needed that he belonged.

"Look, Ling, that watch is yours, OK? It will always be yours, until you give it to your son, but mum promised Mrs Bradley. What do you want me to do?"

Ling threw the watch to her, took a jacket from his chair and walked out of the room.

"Just take it. I don't care." Ling brushed past her and jogged down the stairs, going out to the garage where he kept his motorbike.

Winry sighed and looked down at the watch, noticing the name Rockbell engraved on the back. She ran her thumb over the name and turned it over to see a six pointed star and chimera, the emblem of Amestris. It was a State Alchemist's watch but Winry had no idea of any of her ancestors had been alchemists, let alone State Alchemists. Winry looked out of the window at the setting sun and laid the watch back down on Ling's desk. She went back to her room to help Paninya fix her hair, wondering what excuse she could give Mrs Bradley as to why she hadn't brought the watch.

* * *

Dressed in a smart black suit Edward was admiring himself in the full length mirror that took up almost one wall of the Elric's drawing room.

"Do you think they still wear ties at this thing, Al?" he enquired as he fastened his tie around his neck.

Alphonse looked up at him from where he was reading in his favourite chair by the fire. "Why are you even going?" he asked exasperated.

"It's only fitting." Edward turned to face his brother. "We were at the very first one, remember?"

"I think it would be better if we didn't draw attention to ourselves."

"Then you should stay here. I'll see to it Winry has a good time." Edward stared wide-eyed at Alphonse as he poured himself a dram of scotch and threw it back. "Good grief, I've driven you to drink."

Alphonse shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I can't seem to rid myself of you, Ed, so what else am I supposed to do? Aside from living my life?"

"Live _my_ life, Al. You see, therein lies your eternal struggle. You're dead. Get over it. Anyway, it's cool not growing old. I like being the eternal stud." Edward turned back to the mirror and gave himself his toothiest grin, out of the corner of his eye he saw Alphonse refill his glass. Edward's eyes narrowed as he noticed Alphonse hold onto the bottle for slightly longer than he needed.

"Oh yeah, being a teenager for 146 years has been the height of my happiness."

"You cracked a funny, Alphonse, I should have a drink to celebrate." Edward walked over to his brother, and taking the bottle of scotch from him poured himself a drink. "Ah, 1864. You and Winry were the perfect couple. It was hell watching you dance with her." Edward's voice changed from wistful and reminiscent to deathly dangerous in a moment.

"My happiness was short lived, as you well know Edward." Alphonse replied, standing up next to his brother.

"Oh, I remember. I left the party early, and I was waiting for her. The night you dropped her off, I was waiting just inside her door." Edward smirked. "You were such a gentleman, escorting her back, giving her a kiss on the cheek. When what she really wanted was... Oh well, here's to history repeating itself."

Edward raised his glass to his lips, before letting it fall to smash on the floor. He looked at Alphonse with fire burning in his golden eyes. Alphonse backed away from his brother in fear.

"I admire your effort, Alphonse. Pouring yourself a drink then spiking the bottle with vervain. I'm not some drunk girl in a club; you can't roofie me. But I can't help but feel a little used; I thought we were having a moment." Edward straightened his tie and brushed off his suit. "Now I have to go the party angry. Who knows what I'll do?"

Edward strode out of the room, his long ponytail flowing out behind him. Alphonse watched his brother leave, and drew out a small phial of a clear liquid from his pocket and held it up to the light. Alphonse smiled to himself, picked up his drink and drained his glass. Phase one of his plan had been executed perfectly.


	13. Chapter Twelve: The Founder's Ball

**It's taken me almost a month to write this chapter, and for that I can only apologise. For some reason, despite the fact I'd been itching to write this part I just could not get on with it, I had some horrid writer's block and it didn't help that I didn't have many opportunities to write, other than the dead of night when I was ridiculously tired. So anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I hope that the length of it (the longest chapter so far I've written! Woohoo!), and hopefully the content, makes up for the wait. The end seemed a little rushed to me, but by that point I was just wanting to get it finished so you guys could read it and I could move on, so I apologise if it seems a bit off at the end. Also it didn't help the source material is really patchy and jumping from scene to scene in this episode. Makes for great TV, but damn difficult to put into a story format. I tried anyway. Again, reviews would be greatly appreciated! **

Chapter Twelve

The Founder's Ball

Darkness had draped itself upon Risembool like a diamond encrusted blanket, and in the light of the moon all the residents of the town were making their way to the Bradley's mansion for the party. Everyone was dressed in their best outfits; men in dress suits and women in both fancy cocktail dresses and flowing gowns. Though it wasn't the major formal event of the year the Founder's Ball marked the beginning of the Founder's season and so people wanted create a good impression from the first party; start as you mean to go on. Mayor Bradley and his wife were greeting and welcoming guests at their door, wanting to extend the hand of friendship as election season wasn't far away. Selim was with them, to finish the illusion of the perfect Amestrian family, though he didn't greet anyone with any enthusiasm; in fact he couldn't look any more miserable if he tried, standing just beside his parents with his hands in his pockets, slouching and looking at his feet.

"You could at least _try_ and be polite, Selim," Mrs Bradley chastised him quietly as she did up his top button and tightened his tie. "Your father needs you tonight."

Selim grunted, pushing his mother away. "Dad doesn't need me; he needs a son that doesn't exist in the real world."

Ignoring his mother's protests Selim left his parents and strolled down the veranda steps, heading the opposite way to the flow of traffic. Wandering into the gardens Selim suddenly spotted a flash of pink hair by a rose bush.

"You came then?" Selim asked, making Rose jump.

"Selim! Thanks for scaring me!" Rose scolded him as she stood up, brushing down her blue halterneck dress. "How are you? Bored senseless yet?"

Selim smirked at her, and taking her arm led her through the gardens to the rear of the house.

"Selim, why are we going round the back?" Rose asked, even though she was afraid of the answer.

"Line's too long, and the party's round the back anyway."

Pitiful excuse, thought Rose.

* * *

"Elicia! You look absolutely beautiful!" Mrs Bradley gushed as she greeted Elicia, kissing her on the cheek. "Your father must be so proud of you; he always talks about what a lovely young lady you're growing into, just like your mother."

Elicia wanted to roll her eyes, knowing full well that if her father was saying she was turning into a beautiful woman like her mother it wasn't just because he was proud; he would be worried that some young man would take her away from him; just like her mother. Instead Elicia just smiled and blushed as if embarrassed, hugging her black pashmina closer to her bruised shoulders and fingering the large choker she wore to cover her neck.

"Thank you Mrs Bradley. This is my boyfriend, Edward." Elicia introduced Edward, who had been standing patiently beside her.

"Enchanté." He took Mrs Bradley's hand and kissed it, much to the chagrin of Mayor Bradley, who looked down at Edward with his right eye. His left eye was covered by a patch, the result of an old and unfortunate hunting accident. Mrs Bradley just giggled like a school girl.

"It's lovely to meet you, Mrs Bradley," Edward schmoozed. "I've been looking forward to this party for quite a while."

"Well, go on through, and I hope you have a good night."

Edward smiled his thanks, and nodded his head to Mayor Bradley as he passed.

As Edward crossed the threshold his grin became even wider as he heard Mayor Bradley whisper to his wife. "You don't have to go quite so overboard with the young men, my dear."

Edward scanned the room as he walked in; taking in the familiar surroundings of the Bradley mansion, briefly noting that the last time he had been here he had been human. He was about to set off and find the bar but was stopped by Elicia who suddenly dragged him unceremoniously into a hidden corner.

"Oh shit," she cursed under her breath. "Keep quiet!"

Edward looked at her indignantly as she turned and left him, casually walking along the hallway and acting surprised when came face to face with the man she had hidden Edward from. Maes Hughes had his arms folded across his black police uniform and was tapping his foot impatiently while his grey eyes wore an expression of extreme disapproval.

"You couldn't even wear a suit for the Founder's Ball?" Elicia asked her father with equal disapproval.

He pushed his rectangular glasses back up his nose and sighed. "I'm working, Elicia, and don't try to distract me. Who is that you were trying to sneak in here?"

"Just some guy," Elicia shrugged.

"I will not have you going out with 'just some guy'. He's too old for you, honey, anyway." Maes' hand unconsciously came to rest on his gun.

"Yeah, because otherwise you'd approve," Elicia replied sarcastically.

Maes ignored Elicia's tone. "I haven't heard from your mum in a while, Elicia, you wouldn't happen to know where she is?"

"Yeah. She's in Central."

"How nice for her," Maes said bitterly.

"With Miles," Elicia rubbed salt into her father's wounds before going back to Edward, who had come to the conclusion whilst eavesdropping on their conversation that befriending the sheriff would be in his best interests; though more so for preserving his life than helping his chances with Elicia. While Edward had been hiding he hadn't noticed Alphonse arrive with Winry and Riza, who headed straight for the bar while the couple made their way further into the mansion. Just as she had settled at the bar Riza was joined by a short man with dark hair and glasses.

"Hello, Riza."

"Hello, Kain," Riza replied. Her hand settled on the tiny handgun she had hidden in a thigh holster under her black dress. She knew she'd see Kain at the Ball, and had brought it just in case he pushed her one step too far. Though she would never kill the man standing beside her she would very much like to kneecap him.

"It's good to see you again, Riza," Kain smiled innocently, had he been aware of the fact that Riza was packing heat he may not have been quite so blasé.

"Afraid I can't say the same thing."

"Can I buy you a drink?"

"No, but you can get me my money back."

"Look, Riza, I'm sorry that the company went bust but that wasn't my fault!" Kain held his hands up in hollow apology. "You know that if I could get you your money back I would. What can I do to make it up to you?"

"Drop dead?" Riza smiled sarcastically.

Kain returned the smile, signalling the barman and ordering two vodka tonics.

"Take this as a peace offering, at least," he said pushing one of the drinks toward Riza. She took it and drained the glass.

"Now I've got a free drink out of you I'll be going," she said as she walked away from the bar.

"Whoa, not so fast, Riza," Kain called following her. "If I know you you've got more insults in you; they're just dying to get out and hurt me."

"Your hairline's receding," Riza replied flatly.

"No it's not," Kain suddenly had an idea. "You want to have lunch?"

"Nope."

"Oh come on, Riza! I'm just trying to make things up to you; you know I feel terrible about what happened. I couldn't sleep for days for worrying about you." Kain was pleading with her now, though Riza could see right through his charade.

"You mean you couldn't sleep for days for spending sordid amounts of _my_ money."

"You haven't changed a bit, Riza Hawkeye."

She turned to face him, looking down on the man who had robbed her of a lifetime's of savings.

"Oh yes I have. I'm meaner now."

* * *

Winry was in the Bradley's main drawing room, which, though impressive, in her eyes was not on a par with Alphonse's home. She was looking at the display cabinets, which housed not only hers but many families' heirlooms for the night, and found herself staring down at her mother's engagement ring. She was so lost in the memories of her mother she didn't notice Alphonse standing watching her from across the room. He had returned from getting drinks, but had found himself transfixed by her beauty when he entered the drawing room.

Winry's shining blonde hair had been pulled up into a tight bun, while her bangs fell elegantly down to rest on her bare shoulders. Her lilac gown fitted her perfectly; accentuating her every curve as it flowed down to glide upon the floor, and her creamy skin seemed to shine in the candlelight. Winry had even put on make up, judging the Ball to be one of the rare occasions where she had to endure it, and though she thought she had messed it up Alphonse had insisted she looked flawless. Recovering his senses he went to her and gently put his arm around her waist.

"Your parent's things?" he asked quietly.

Winry nodded, taking the drink Alphonse offered her. "There's so much history here, it's hard to imagine how old some of these things are." As Winry looked up something on the wall caught her eye, and she read aloud from the framed parchment.

"'The Founding Families of Risembool welcome you to the Inaugural Founder's Council Celebration.' Alphonse, this is the original guest registry! Look at all these familiar names; Sheriff William Hughes, Mayor Benjamin Bradley." Winry paused suddenly when she saw the next name on the list, Alphonse's blood running cold as he realised what she had seen. "Is that... Edward Elric? And look, Alphonse Elric."

"The original Elric brothers," Edward said as he sauntered into the room, Elicia's arm wrapped around his. "Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually."

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past, Ed," Alphonse said, a little too quickly.

"It's not boring, Al, I'd love to hear more about your family."

"Well I'm bored," Elicia piped up. "I want to dance, and Edward won't dance with me."

"I've told you already, I don't dance," Edward said firmly.

"Could I just borrow your date?" Elicia looked hopefully at Winry as her arm broke free of Edward's and moved toward Alphonse.

Winry wasn't sure how to reply and looked to Alphonse for confirmation.

"Uh, well, I don't really dance..." he stammered awkwardly.

"Oh, don't be so modest, Al!" Edward interrupted him, patting his brother on the shoulder and turning to face the girls. "You should see him; waltz, jitterbug, the moonwalk. Al does it all."

Elicia looked hopefully at her friend. "You wouldn't mind, would you Winry?"

"It's up to Al," Winry answered. She looked to Alphonse, who, slightly reluctantly, agreed and taking Elicia's arm in his he led her to the dance floor.

"Edward told you to ask me to dance, didn't he?" Alphonse whispered in Elicia's ear.

"Why would he do that?" Elicia looked at him confused and surprised.

Alphonse ignored the question; instead he deftly took two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter.

"Would you like one?" he offered.

"Don't mind if I do." Elicia took the offered glass eagerly, raising it in thanks.

After Edward had watched his brother leave with his unbelievably annoying date, he turned to Winry whose attentions had returned to the display cabinets. He wandered next to her and cleared his throat.

"I want to apologise to you for being a world class jerk the other night when I tried to kiss you." Edward sounded genuinely apologetic. "There's no excuse, I was out of order. My therapist says I'm... acting out, trying to punish Alphonse."

"For what?" Winry asked bluntly, although slightly intrigued.

"It's all in the past; I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that the men in the Elric family have been cursed with sibling rivalry, all starting with the original Elric brothers." Edward motioned to the framed registry. "The Elric's were practically royalty in Risembool. Until the Ishval War. There was an attack."

"The Ishvalan terrorist attack on the church?" Winry interrupted.

Edward nodded. "Yes. However, the history books omitted the truth about the people that were killed. They weren't there by accident; they were believed to be Ishvalan sympathisers. So some of the Founders loyal to Amestris decided to have them rounded up and burned alive and used the Ishvalan attack on the town as an excuse to cover up their deaths. Alphonse and Edward had someone they loved very much in that church, and when they went to rescue them they were shot. Murdered in cold blood."

"Who was in the church they wanted to save?" Winry whispered, completely enthralled by Edward's story.

"A woman. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" Edward smirked.

Winry looked away, Edward's toothy grin making her feel uncomfortable. She was silent for a moment, before sighing deeply and speaking her carefully chosen words. "I'm sorry that you and Alphonse have this thing between you, but I don't want to get in the middle of it, Edward. I just... I just hope you two can work it out."

In a heartbeat Edward's smirk had morphed into a sad smile. "I hope so, too."

* * *

Out in the gardens away from the Ball Rose and Selim were enjoying each other's company. Breaking free for air Rose smiled seductively at Selim. Much as she enjoyed the private party with Selim she wanted desperately to be at the main event and be accepted.

"Do you want to dance?" she asked hopefully.

Selim just snickered. "Me dancing? That's so not a sight you want to see!"

"Well, then, perhaps you could show me around." Rose gestured to the house and gardens. "This place is amazing."

"Yeah, if you like living in a museum."

Rose jumped up from the bench they were sitting at. She was shaking uncontrollably, though from anger rather than cold.

"You know what, maybe I should just strip naked and give the vicar a lap dance! I mean that's why we're hiding out here in the garden all night isn't it? Are you scared of how I'm going to act? Are you afraid of what your parents are going to think about your date from the wrong side of the tracks?"

"I don't care about what they think," Selim answered half-heartedly, unable to look Rose in the eye.

"All right then." Rose grabbed Selim's hand and pulled him to his feet. "Let's go say hi."

"Oh, don't be silly, Rose."

"Or we could just sneak up to your bedroom. As long as nobody sees us right?" Rose finished sarcastically.

"Rose, I swear..." Selim pushed Rose away from him and raised his hand as if to strike her.

"What's the matter, Selim? You scared to stand up to mummy? You're pathetic."

Just at that moment Mrs Bradley emerged from her hiding place behind a hydrangea bush with a terribly fake smile on her face.

"So this is where you've been hiding Selim," she offered Rose her hand, who took it nervously. "We didn't get a chance to say hello earlier. It's Rose Thomas isn't it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Rose answered rather awkwardly.

"You'll have to forgive my son's rudeness. He gets it from his father."

"Oh, that's alright, Mrs Bradley. Selim and I were just saying goodnight." Rose gave Selim a glare before walking off across the lawn as gracefully as she could in heels.

Mrs Bradley sidled up beside her son and said disapprovingly, "That's what you get when you bring trash to the party."

* * *

Winry entered the temporary ballroom in search of Alphonse, and Edward followed behind her, reluctant to be re-united with Elicia. Winry spotted the pair at the bar and hurried over to them, and though she deftly made her way through the crowd of dancers she saw that Edward had somehow got there before her.

"So, what did we miss?" Edward looked between Alphonse and Elicia with a knowing smile on his face, as though they were lovers and he wanted them to spill all their dirty secrets.

"We were just chatting," Elicia giggled, slightly drunk. "You know your brother's really funny, Ed?"

Winry at last broke free of the dance floor and joined her friends just as Elicia was throwing back her fifth shot of vodka.

"That's the last shot for you, I think," Alphonse smiled at her, before turning to his brother. "Drink, Edward?"

"No, thanks, Al," Edward smiled sarcastically.

"Do you have another dance in you, Al?" Winry asked taking Alphonse's arm, sensing that a situation was brewing between the brothers.

"Of course," Alphonse smiled and led Winry onto the dance floor, taking her in his arms as they danced a slow waltz.

"They look _so_ cute together," Elicia cooed as she leaned into Edward.

Edward pulled away from her and rolled his eyes. "Don't talk. Please."

"I hope Edward didn't drive you too crazy," Alphonse ventured.

"No, actually, he was on good behaviour," Winry answered, struggling to keep up Alphonse's clearly well-practised waltz. "He even apologised and explained why he is the way he is. And it all goes back to Winry."

"Hmm," Alphonse murmured, not convinced Edward had ever been on good behaviour in his life, living or undead.

"Tell me about her, what happened?"

Alphonse looked down at his feet. "It's not something I like to talk about."

"I understand, Al, I really do. I just want you to know that you can. I mean I burden you with all of my drama, and I want you to do the same."

"I know, Winry. Thank you."

Winry sighed, "The truth is, Alphonse... I don't really know that much about you, and I'd really love it if you would open up to me."

Alphonse stopped dancing suddenly and looked Winry in the eye. "Edward said something, didn't he? He likes to play games and cause trouble, Winry."

Winry looked back at Alphonse with confusion and frustration. Why did he have to bring everything back to his brother?

"This isn't about Edward; it's about me trying to get to know you, Al. You're the new mystery guy, you know, and I like that, but with mystery comes secrets, and this thing with the other Winry..."

"Let it go, I don't want to talk about it." Alphonse began to turn away from her, but Winry took hold of his arm and stopped him.

"Well, say something about yourself, anything. Otherwise I'm left with nothing but what other people tell me."

It was Alphonse's turn this time to take hold of her arms. "Don't you see what Edward has done here? He's trying to get you to turn against me."

Winry fixed his caramel eyes with her hard sapphire stare. "Well, I guess it's working then," she said firmly before leaving a wounded Alphonse alone on the dance floor. He watched her glide like an angel out of the room, before his gaze found Edward's, standing at the bar, where he had been watching and listening. Edward raised his glass to Alphonse and winked, before setting it down on the bar and walking away, making his escape before Elicia returned from the bathroom.

"This is my fault," Paninya apologised to Winry after she had told her what had happened between her and Alphonse. "I planted doubt! I'm a doubt planter."

"It's not your fault," Winry shook her head and reassured her friend. "I just... I feel terrible because I said that I wouldn't get in the middle of it, and that's exactly what I did."

"Oh, Winry, there you are," Mrs Bradley said as she joined the two girls standing in the hallway, making them jump slightly at her sudden appearance. "I notice the watch isn't on display yet."

Winry blanched. "Oh, um, I'm sorry, Mrs Bradley. I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find it. It could be locked in my family's vault at the bank, but I didn't get a chance to go down there before the ball." Winry smiled inwardly, amazed at how easily she had lied.

"I see," Mrs Bradley tried unsuccessfully to hide her disappointment. "Well, please let me know if you do find it."

"Of course, Mrs Bradley."

Just then a waiter, who had been waiting patiently for the women to finish their conversation, came and urgently whispered something in Mrs Bradley's ear. Upon seeing the angry look that came over face the waiter quickly apologised, and as Mrs Bradley excused herself, he led her to a drawing room. Intrigued, the two girls decided to follow to see what the commotion was about. Hiding by the door they listened as Mrs Bradley seethed.

"It's a good thing no one was in here! How could you let the candles go out? It's not a hard task to make sure they stay lit is it? There are matches in the kitchen, and may I suggest you check the candles in the rest of the house? Just in case you're completely incompetent."

Mrs Bradley swept out of the room, and Winry and Paninya pressed themselves against the wall to avoid being caught eavesdropping.

"Bitch," the girls said at the same time as the train of Mrs Bradley's navy dress disappeared around a corner. After the waiter had left the girls walked into the elegant drawing room, which admittedly did look less impressive without the candles shining brightly in the sconces and chandeliers.

"I've got to go to the bathroom, Paninya, I'll meet you back here." Winry hurried off to the bathroom, leaving Paninya alone, staring at a candle on the mantelpiece.

Paninya had been attempting a spell that Pinako had shown her at home, trying to light a candle with her mind. Paninya didn't think for a minute that she would be able to do, not believing in the fact she was a witch, but nonetheless she had thought it would be fun to give it a try. Looking at a candle she would focus her mind on it, imagining it lit, the flame dancing upon a wax dance floor. It hadn't worked then, when she could concentrate properly, and she didn't expect it to work now at the Ball. With all the distractions of music, laughter and talking coming from the rest of the house Paninya just couldn't focus, and sighing, she gave it up as bad job and turned away. What she had failed to notice was there had been a miniscule glimmer of a flame struggling to life on the candle, and now, as she turned her back on the room, Paninya noticed her shadow on the floor in front of her. Holding her breath she turned back to look into the drawing room, to find it aglow with light; every candle in the room was lit, flames standing proudly atop each of them. Paninya gasped, mostly in awe, partly in fear and, ever so slightly, in pride.

"Looks like that waiter managed to find the matches, then," Winry joked as she returned to find her friend staring into the drawing room.

Paninya answered quietly. "Yeah. Yeah, he did."

* * *

Looking back to ensure he hadn't been followed Edward crept into the main drawing room, intending to carry out the task which had been his main reason for coming to the Ball that night. Throwing aside the heavy rug that covered the floor Edward got down on his hands and knees and began following the lines of the floorboards with his fingers, feeling for a board with a bit of give. So engrossed was Edward in his work that he didn't hear Elicia enter the room, just as he found the floorboard he was looking for.

"Where have you been?" Elicia asked, oddly choosing this question over a rather more obvious one.

Edward rolled his eyes, a habit he found he had only taken up since being with Elicia, before turning to look up at her.

"Ah... looking for you," he answered awkwardly.

"On the floor?" she asked unimpressed, her arms folded across her chest.

"I'm very thorough when I look for things," Edward said deadly seriously.

Elicia giggled drunkenly. "Well, your brother barely danced with me for five minutes, and now I'm bored so..."

"OK, just give me a minute..." Edward interrupted her as he lifted up the floorboard.

"Uh, Edward, I don't think you should be pulling up Mayor Bradley's floors. What is that?" Elicia breathed in wonder as Edward brought up what appeared to be a necklace with an amber pendant.

"It's a very important crystal." Edward placed the crystal in Elicia's hands while he replaced the floorboard and rug.

"But how did you know it was there?"

"Because I put it there," Edward answered as he took the crystal back and put it in his pocket.

"When?"

"Oh, a long time ago." Edward placed his hands on Elicia's waist. "And thanks to you, tonight I'm taking it back."

"So what's it for?"

"That's none of your concern."

"But you can't just steal it..."

"It's not stealing if it's mine. Come on, if I'm drunk enough I might be persuaded to dance."

Edward took Elicia by the hand and led her out of the room, leaving it as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Riza had returned to the bar, hoping to build up a little Dutch courage in case she encountered Kain for a second time that evening. Unfortunately her fears were confirmed sooner than she had hoped; she stared daggers at him as he approached her at the bar.

"Don't shoot!" Kain said innocently, unaware of the fact Riza was prepared to if he continued to rub her up the wrong way. "I'm just getting a refill."

"Shooting implies caring," Riza answered stonily.

"Feigned indifference, I like it."

"I'm over the banter, Kain. I'd really rather you just left me alone." Riza finished her drink and turned to leave.

Kain Fuery, however, was not about to give in that easily. "I'm sorry, Riza. About Sara."

Riza stopped in her tracks and turned back to face him with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"I came to the funeral."

"I know. I saw you."

Kain caught the barman's attention and ordered a drink for himself and Riza.

"OK, I know that this is probably going to be strike three, but I hope you can see it for what it is."

"And what is that?" Riza took the drink that Kain offered her.

"Persistence. Grovelling. Repentance. Take your pick."

"You know I fled town because of you, Kain. _Fled_."

Kain sighed, hanging his head in shame. "I know I let you down. I know I gave you dodgy advice, but I want you to know that I am willing to whatever it takes to make it up to you."

Riza considered him for a moment; he seemed genuinely remorseful, and seeing his big puppy dog eyes pleading for forgiveness tugged at her heartstrings. Sighing, she gave in. It wouldn't hurt to at least let him try to repent.

"Hypothetically speaking, if allowed, how would you make things right?"

"Well, I'd start out with more grovelling, of course. Then a recap of the past few years spent soul searching, over cheese fries..." Kain looked up at her hopefully.

"Obvious," Riza stated.

"I know my audience," he smiled.

Riza completely caved at that smile, besides she could at least get a free meal out of him. Riza took a pen and scrap of paper from her clutch bag, scribbled something down and handed Kain the paper, who took it gratefully.

"Yes to lunch. Call me."

* * *

Winry stood at the bathroom mirror, trying rather unsuccessfully to fix her make up, so was more than a little relieved when Elicia strolled in.

"Hey," Winry greeted her, before thrusting her make up at Elicia.

"You know one day you're going to have to learn to do this for yourself," Elicia sighed as she immediately began to apply blusher to Winry's cheeks.

"But until that day I have you to keep me looking beautiful," Winry said jokingly and gratefully.

Elicia smiled. "So how are things with Alphonse?"

"Great. Just great." Winry lied.

"Really?" Elicia was unconvinced. "Well my radar must be off, because I was getting all sorts of other vibes from you..."

Elicia was cut off by Winry, who had noticed a bruise on Elicia's shoulder when her pashmina slipped slightly.

"What is that?"

"What's what? Hey! Don't pull at that!" Elicia cried as Winry tried to remove the pashmina to get a better look at Elicia's shoulder. As she pulled away trying to prevent Winry from seeing her bruises she only made it easier for her to pull the pashmina from her shoulders, revealing large purple bruises peppered with bite marks.

"Oh god, Elicia, what happened to you?" Winry gasped, her eyes full of fear and concern for her friend.

"It's nothing, alright?" Elicia quickly said, grabbing the pashmina back from a shocked Winry. "This is nothing."

"This is _not _nothing, Elicia. Did somebody hurt you?"

"No! I'm OK, It's nothing. It's just... Dad would kill me!"

Winry took hold of Elicia's arms and looked into her green eyes, and whispered, deadly serious.

"Did Edward hurt you?"

"No!" Elicia pulled away from Winry. "No, he didn't... He... I... Just leave me alone Winry, I'm fine!"

Elicia ran out of the bathroom, clearly upset and distressed, with Winry following close behind, however her attention was diverted by a flash of blond hair. Pulling a small, but still hefty, wrench from her clutch bag Winry strode over to Edward and introduced the wrench to the back of Edward's head. Edward cried out in pain, causing several party-goers to look over at the commotion, and massaging his head he turned to face whoever had dared to hit him. He was stopped from launching into angry tirade however, as Winry held her wrench menacingly in front of his face and gave him the steeliest glare she had so far given him.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You stay away from Elicia or I will go straight to her father, the sheriff, understand? And next time I won't use my small wrench."

After a final flourish of the wrench Winry marched off, leaving Edward standing stunned, watching her leave as he held his still throbbing head while a crowd of on-lookers gawped and gossiped around him.

"Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer!" Edward growled as he stalked off in search of the foolish girl who hadn't been able to keep her mouth shut.

Running outside to find Elicia Winry instead, quite literally, bumped into Alphonse.

"I'm so sorry, Alphonse. I take everything back; you were completely right about Edward."

Alphonse looked at Winry, panic overcoming his features.

"What did he do?"

"There are bruises all over Elicia's body, bite marks even! And he he's got all confused and messed up in the head." Winry stopped as she saw Alphonse now looked quite calm about the situation. "You don't look surprised."

"I'm handling it, don't worry."

"Handling it? Al, you should be having him arrested!"

"Winry, please. I... I don't expect you to understand," Alphonse said quietly as Winry got louder.

"I don't understand anything, Alphonse. So why don't you clear it up for me?" Winry crossed her arms in frustration as they were beginning to head back towards the argument they had not an hour earlier.

"Look, there are things you don't know, OK?" Alphonse desperately pleaded with her. "Things that I want to tell you, but I can't. And I may never be able to... I just need you to trust me."

"Trust is earned, I can't just magically hand it over."

Just then Alphonse's vampire hearing picked up a sound he'd been waiting for all evening. Looking into Winry's blue eyes, filled with hurt and confusion, he hated himself for having to lie to her and keep secrets. But it was the only way to keep her safe.

"I'm so sorry, Winry. I have to go."

Winry gaped in shock as Alphonse walked off and left her standing there; doing the very thing they had just been talking about. Winry was once again left in the dark as Alphonse walked off into it.

Elicia, meanwhile, had been found by an angry Edward, and he was dragging her crying across the lawns away from the mansion.

"Edward, I'm sorry!" she pleaded. "Winry just took it off and I got flustered, she kept asking all these questions and I didn't know what to say! But I swear to you, I didn't tell her anything!"

"You make me crazy, you know that?" said Edward quietly, and dangerously.

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I swear I didn't say..." Elicia was cut off as Edward shushed her; pulling her close he gently stroked her cheek and ran his right hand through her hair before settling it behind her neck and whispered in her ear.

"Unfortunately, I am so over you now."

Elicia screamed as Edward bit into her neck, but her cries were soon muffled by his left hand. Edward greedily gulped down her blood, but within a minute he began to feel lightheaded. He pulled back from Elicia, gasping for air, feeling sicker and weaker by the second.

"What the hell?" Edward wheezed as he collapsed to the ground, letting Elicia fall unconscious, struggling to breathe and feeling like his throat and stomach were on fire. Just before he passed out Edward noticed someone standing over him.

"I knew I wouldn't be able to spike your drink." Alphonse said calmly as he looked down at Edward. "So I spiked hers."

The vervain in Edward's system finally overwhelmed him and he lost consciousness. Alphonse picked up his brother in a fireman's lift and ran off into the night.

* * *

Ling sat alone in his room that night, the thought of going to yet another party where everyone asked if he was OK, or commented on how strong he was being, or how much like his father he was, was too much to bear. He had been to many social events and gatherings since his parents had died, at the behest of both Winry and Riza, and each one was more tedious than the last. He knew he should be getting out and carrying on life as normal, but he just didn't want to. Because life wasn't normal anymore. His parents weren't there to yell at him for being late for work; they weren't there to tell him to be careful on his bike; they weren't there for him to argue with about having to wear a tux to the Founder's Ball. They just weren't there anymore. His birth parents had abandoned him, and now his adoptive parents had been taken from him. He couldn't tell Winry or Riza, but more than anything Ling was scared. Scared that they would be taken from him next, and he would be left alone, and that thought terrified him more than anything in the world, because he didn't know what he would do if he found himself alone.

Just then the doorbell rang. Ling looked at his clock; 11.42pm. Ignoring whoever was at the door Ling turned over on his bed, but they rang the doorbell again, more insistently this time. Wondering who on earth would be calling at this time of night, especially as almost the entire town was at the Ball, Ling grumpily clambered off his bed and went downstairs to answer the door.

"Alright! I'm coming!" he called as whoever it was rang the bell a third time. Ling opened the door to find Rose standing on his doorstep.

"You look amazing." Ling breathed in, surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"

Rose looked at him guiltily. "I was thinking maybe I could make one more wrong choice today. I still have seventeen minutes."

With that Ling took her hand and pulled her into the house and into an embrace. Rose closed the door with her foot as she pressed her lips against Ling's and he responded exactly as she had hoped he would.

* * *

Not long after Alphonse had taken Edward away, Elicia woke up. Groggily and clutching her neck she managed to pull herself to her feet. Wincing slightly at the pain in her neck she began to walk back towards the party, but she was soon stopped when something caught her eye, glinting in the moonlight in the grass. Bending down she picked it up, to find it was the amber crystal Edward had taken from the Bradley's drawing room. Hearing someone coming she quickly slipped it down her cleavage, and looking up she saw Winry hurrying towards her.

"Elicia! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you. Are you alright?" Winry gasped as she saw the blood on Elicia's neck and shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Elicia answered quietly.

"Elicia, what happened?" Winry came closer to her friend.

"I'm fine." Tears were threatening to spill from Elicia's green eyes as she shook, not just from the chilly night air.

"You're not fine, you're shaking! Elicia, what..."

"I'm fine!" Elicia cried, falling onto Winry and clutching at her friend, who immediately wrapped her arms around her protectively.

"You're alright now, Elicia. Edward can't hurt you anymore."

* * *

Alphonse walked out of the basement cellar where he kept his stash of vervain and as he bolted and locked the door behind him, he looked through the barred window to see Edward languishing in his new prison. He hated having to do this to his brother, but it was necessary.

"_I did what I had to do." _Alphonse wrote in his journal that night. _"To protect Winry. To protect everyone. Yes, Edward, the headline now reads: 'Deadly beast captured. All is well in Risembool.'" _

_

* * *

_

Late that night, or rather early the next morning, after the Founder's Ball had ended four sombre looking souls remained in Mayor Bradley's office. They had been called for a Founder's Council meeting.

"Thank you for staying so late," Mayor Bradley said as he sat down behind his impressive oak desk, his wife standing just beside him.

"Did you get the Rockbell watch?" Sheriff Hughes asked Mrs Bradley with some urgency.

"She claims it's packed away in her parents' bank vault," Mrs Bradley answered, unconvinced of Winry's lie.

"I can get it," Kain Fuery piped up, who was standing by the window.

"Good," Sheriff Hughes clapped him on the shoulder. "We're going to need it."

"Are you sure though?" Mayor Bradley asked with some trepidation.

Sheriff Hughes snorted in disagreement and at his own assurance. "Five bodies, all drained of blood? I'm certain."

Kain looked at Mayor Bradley, his face deathly serious. "They've come back."


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Prisoner

**A slightly shorter chapter than last time, for which I apologise to those of you who like long chapters, but I find it much easier to write when I break the episodes up into three chapters. Anyways, just a couple of things to say this time... I've made a slight edit to chapter four (Graveyards and Parties) which you may have noticed come up in your story notifications, nothing major, I literally just swapped Denny Brosh for Heymans Breda for the host of the party, the reason why will become clear in MUCH later chapters. Also, this could possibly be the last update for a while, as next Friday, the 25****th**** I am flying to New Zealand for a year. I would like to get the next chapter up before I go (I'm starting work on it NOW) and if you're lucky you might well have it by next Thursday. After that, however, updates will be very sporadic, as I won't have much free time to devote to writing this. Do not fear though because I WILL NOT abandon this story, it's far too much fun to ditch, and even if you have to wait another year for an update I WILL CONTINUE this story. If I do manage to get any work done on this I will post snippets on my tumblr (my name is eholaura) where I will also be posting photography from my trip, and if you're interested in my travels please do have a look at my travel journal on TravelPod dot com (my name there is billoco and my journal will be entitled Billman's Great New Zealand Adventure). Anyways... on with the story!**

Chapter Thirteen

Prisoner

Consciousness returned to Edward along with the pain. This time though it wasn't just his throat that burned; his very blood was on fire, burning through his veins as it carried the poison around his body. Edward slowly opened his eyes to discover that he was lying on the cold stone floor of his own basement cellar. Wincing slightly, Edward gradually and painfully managed to bring his hand to his forehead in a feeble attempt to relieve his throbbing headache. That was when he noticed his ring was missing from his hand, his anger and confusion raising, but even that caused him more pain.

"Where the hell is my ring?" Edward croaked through dry lips.

"You won't need it anymore." Edward shuddered at the coldness in that familiar voice.

Coughing slightly, Edward tried to raise himself on one elbow, but found that even that small task was beyond him. His golden eyes scanned the cellar to find out what the hell had happened to him, although he had a pretty good idea. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw rows and rows of vervain plants on trestle tables under propagation lights, their very presence in the room causing him pain in his weakened state, and standing beside them was Alphonse.

"How long have I been down here?" Edward choked.

"Three days."

"What the hell are you doing, Al?"

Alphonse sighed and knelt beside Edward.

"During the dark ages when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon our race, they would face judgement. They sought to re-educate rather than punish."

"You know what will happen if I don't... feed on blood." Edward took several deep breaths, just saying that one sentence expending energy he didn't have.

"You'll grow weaker and weaker, eventually you won't be able to move or even speak." Alphonse answered nonchalantly. "In about a week your skin will desiccate and you'll mummify. A living corpse. Unable to hurt anyone, ever."

"So you're just going to keep me in the basement forever?"

Alphonse shook his head. "I've injected you with enough vervain to keep you weak. Once your circulation stops I'll move you to the family crypt, and then in say, fifty years, we can re-evaluate."

"I suppose I should've guessed you'd have a stash of vervain somewhere, as a backup, but I never thought you'd have the nerve to keep it here!" Edward coughed heavily.

"What better place to keep it?" Alphonse replied. "I knew you'd want to stay as far away from Risembool, and this house, as you could. You wouldn't come back here lightly, and if you did, it would be more than likely that I would need the vervain to stop whatever nefarious plans you had."

"Well it's nice to know that blood runs thicker than water, Alphonse."

"When you're related to a monster like you, family loyalty doesn't mean as much as it should. You would have done the same if it were me."

Alphonse stood up and walked over to the door; he looked back at his brother when he heard him whisper.

"I'm stronger than you think, Al."

"You always have been, Ed," Alphonse smiled sadly. "But we both know you're not stronger than the vervain."

Alphonse walked out of the cellar and closed the heavy wooden door behind him, locking it for good measure.

"I'm sorry," Alphonse apologised through the barred window. "It didn't have to be this way."

Alphonse turned from the door and made his way back up into the house. Emerging into the kitchen, he closed the door behind him and locked it, in order to prevent anyone getting down to the basement and becoming a life-saving meal for Edward. He might have been weak, but Alphonse had no idea how dangerous his brother could be; if anything he would be more of a danger as he would likely to do anything to escape his basement prison. And he would want revenge.

Alphonse looked at the clock on the wall and cursed as he realised he was going to be late for his alchemy lecture. Grabbing his bag from the table he made his way out of the house, again locking the door behind him. Once Alphonse was out in the fresh air he breathed in deeply, letting the daylight take away his tensions about Edward, but only reminding him of his other problems. He had come back to Risembool to try and lead as normal a life as he could, and now that he was going to college he would have to face Winry and explain to her why he had been avoiding her and dodging her calls for the last few days. He hated ignoring her, and he hated lying to her even more, he wasn't good at lying, but he knew that he couldn't tell Winry the truth. Winry certainly suspected him of hiding something from her and she seemed determined to find out the truth, but he knew that telling her would only put her in danger, and so he would have to feed her more lies just to keep her safe. Besides, Alphonse thought, she was hardly like to believe that he was a 164 year old vampire who had returned to his hometown after over fifty years of living on the run just because she looked like his long dead lover. Hell, Alphonse hardly believed that himself.

* * *

Morning sunlight streamed through Winry's curtains, slowly awakening her from pleasant dreams where Alphonse hadn't been ignoring her for three days. Groaning she unwound herself from her duvet and groggily hauled herself out of bed, pulled on her dressing gown and automatically made her way to the bathroom. She was shocked fully awake, however, by the sight of a stranger cleaning their teeth in her bathroom.

"Oh!" cried Rose, startled. "I'm sorry, Winry, I'm almost done."

Winry just stared at Rose for a moment before remembering her manners. "No, it's OK. Take your time."

Winry closed the bathroom door behind her and shaking her head at the brazenness of her brother made her way downstairs. Rose meanwhile was trying hard not to laugh as she finished in the bathroom and returned to Ling's room.

"I think you might be in trouble," Rose chuckled as she flopped down on the bed next to Ling.

"Why? What did you?" Ling asked suspiciously.

"Winry saw me."

Ling scoffed. "I'm a drug using delinquent. A girl in bed is nothing."

They both burst into laughter at that but it was soon muffled as Ling rolled onto Rose, kissing her deeply as they resumed what they had begun the previous night.

Desperately trying to not to think about what Ling may or may not be doing with Rose at that precise moment Winry walked into the kitchen to find Riza sitting at the table, munching her way through a bowl of cereal as she read the morning paper.

"Riza, are you aware of what's going on upstairs?" Winry asked her aunt angrily.

"Uh-huh." Riza replied, not even looking up from the paper.

Winry looked at her aunt, slightly shocked. "And you have no objection?"

"He doesn't have to be so obvious about it, but they're both legal so who am I to judge?" Riza shrugged. "Oh, by the way, I won't be home for dinner tonight. Will you be alright to cook for yourself?"

"Sure," Winry smiled, already planning her take away order. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sitting down next to her aunt Winry helped herself to cereal. "So you're actually going to go to dinner with Kain?"

"Well, I'm going to show up and torture him," Riza smiled. Winry shuddered at the sincere look in her aunt's dark amber eyes; she knew that given half a chance, Riza would actually torture him. "Have you heard from Alphonse yet?"

"Not since that very vague message three days ago," Winry shook her head, and then cleared her throat as she put on a very poor imitation of Alphonse. "Hi, um, Winry, I, um, have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days."

"Haven't you called him?" Riza asked with concern.

"No, and I'm not going to either."

"And you're OK with everything?"

"No. I'm not OK with any of it, but I'm not going to cry about it either. I was about to write in my diary last night and then I thought, what am I going to write? Because I'm not going to be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy."

"Alright then." Riza smiled at Winry kindly.

"I'll be fine, Riza. I didn't even want a relationship right now anyway, so... maybe this is a good thing."

* * *

At college early for once Elicia was trying to forget about the events of the Ball and concentrate on organising the charity car wash that she had been put in charge of. However whilst she was busying herself by putting up posters to advertise the car wash, Paninya was trying to pry every detail from her.

"I can remember the Ball clearly, up until Edward took me outside." Elicia cursed as she caught her thumb on a drawing pin. "Everything from then seems hazy, but I remember Edward holding me, and he was kissing my neck, or maybe biting my neck. Then I passed out. But it's like there's lots of holes in my memory lately, it's weird. I don't know, maybe I let Edward bite me."

"Why would you do that?" Paninya laughed nervously.

"Can we not talk about it, Paninya? I don't want to talk about Edward; I don't want to talk about any of it. I just want to go back to normal."

"Alright, we'll say no more. Where'd you get that necklace?" Paninya nodded to the amber pendant that Elicia wore around her neck.

"Oh, this?" Elicia held up the necklace so Paninya could see it better. "Edward gave it to me, or he was going to."

"Why are you wearing a necklace he gave you if you want to forget him? It's ugly anyway."

"Get your paws off it then! I like it, and anyway, it was gift, therefore I didn't pay for it, so why shouldn't I wear it? I don't have to remember that Edward gave it to me."

Later that morning Winry met Elicia and Paninya just before history, and as Elicia wasn't going to be in class with Winry, she began to brief her on the plans for the car wash.

"The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow, I expect you there," Elicia said in an adequate impression of a sergeant major. "The rugby team have committed, and the band have signed up. Although I don't think I'll be letting all of them do the actual car washing, only the ones who can pull off a bikini. I want, in your face, sexy." Elicia handed Winry some posters to distribute before moving down the hallway to find a piece of wall that she hadn't already covered.

Winry gawped at Elicia open mouthed, disbelief written all over face.

"Unbelievable," she said to Paninya. "It's like nothing happened."

"Lies and denial," Paninya shook her head.

While the girls had been watching Elicia leave, they hadn't noticed Alphonse arrive. Paninya was the first to spot him, and sensing trouble between him and Winry she quickly bolted into the history room. Winry stared at Alphonse, arms folded, with hurt in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry I haven't called," Alphonse apologised immediately.

Winry shrugged. "No worries, I'll live."

"I was dealing with Edward."

"And did you deal with Edward?"

"Yeah," Alphonse nodded, though not enthusiastically.

"For three days?"

Apologising hadn't worked, so Alphonse was forced to beg.

"Look, Winry, you have every right to be upset with me, but can I explain it all to you? Please."

Winry looked at him dubiously, unsure whether she should give him the opportunity to explain. Looking at his puppy dog eyes though, she melted. She had been asking him to tell her more, and now here he was offering information. Perhaps she should give him a chance.

"Sure," she said eventually. "When?"

Alphonse let out a silent sigh of relief, having earned his reprieve, if only for a little while.

"The Bistro? Four o'clock?"

"Alright."

"Thank you, Winry." Alphonse was about to open the classroom door for her when he was stopped in his tracks by a squealing voice halfway up the corridor.

"Alphonse! Hold up a minute!" Elicia screeched at him. "Where is Edward? He has some serious apologising to do."

"He's gone, Elicia," Alphonse answered, somewhat relieved she wasn't asking him to take part in the car wash.

"Well, when is he coming back?" Elicia asked, so flustered she was dropping posters and didn't seem to realise.

Alphonse bent down to retrieve the runaway posters for her. "He's not coming back, I'm sorry."

"This is a good thing, Elicia," Winry said, noticing the look of disappoint on her face.

"I know that," Elicia said quietly as she took the posters from Alphonse.

Winry doubted that Elicia meant what she said.

* * *

At four o'clock on the dot Winry arrived at the Risembool Bistro, and after scanning the restaurant and finding no evidence of Alphonse anywhere, she instead made her away over to a friendly face by the pool table.

"Hey, Russell, have you seen Alphonse?"

"I haven't, sorry," Russell apologised. "We could shoot some pool if you wanted to kill some time?"

"I don't know... I'm supposed to meet Alphonse at four..."

Russell cut her off, and smiling, he handed her a pool cue.

"Come on, Win. We haven't played in ages. I'll let you brick."

Winry smiled back. "Alright, I hope you're ready to get your arse kicked."

Winry took the break, and began sinking the balls without even letting Russell take a single shot.

"Have you been secretly practising or something, Win?" Russell stared in disbelief as Winry potted the 8 ball.

"Just a little." Winry smiled innocently as Russell set the table up for a second match, one that hopefully this time he would get a chance to play.

They played another two games; Winry every so often subtly checked the time as Alphonse still failed to show.

"So how late is he?" Russell asked, Winry's "subtle" clock checks not lost on him.

Winry sighed, partly angry at Alphonse, partly angry at herself for looking so desperate.

"Hitting the hour mark. But I am not talking boy problems with you." Winry said firmly as she noticed the look of concern on Russell's face.

"Why would you? It's not like we're best friends or anything." Russell said sarcastically.

Winry sighed in defeat; she should have known she couldn't have kept anything from Russell.

"It's just... I don't know. What do you think of Alphonse? Is he a good guy?"

"Why? What's he done?"

"It's not any one thing; he's just so secretive all the time. I there's something that he doesn't want me to know, which makes me want to know all the more."

"Secret like what?" Russell chuckled. "Like that he's a serial killer and he keeps a suit of armour in his trunk?"

"No, of course not," Winry said in annoyance. "But what do we actually know about him, Russ?"

Russell shrugged. "He's great at rugby, a little bit of a loner. And as much as I hate to say it, he might be a nice guy."

"So you think I'm being paranoid?"

"No," Russell shook his head and looked Winry in the eye. "I think you should talk to him."

"Talk to who?" Alphonse said a moment later as he walked over to them at the pool table. "I'm so sorry that I'm late."

"What happened?" Winry wondered, as well as how he heard her and Russell talking when he wasn't within earshot.

"I got held up." Alphonse smiled apologetically.

"Is everything OK?"

"There was just something I had to do."

"And you didn't think to just call or text me to say that you were going to be an hour late?"

"Well, I'm clearly not needed here anymore." Russell said as Winry shot him a this-is-what-I-mean look. "You two have fun."

"Thanks for the game Russ, and the talk."

"No worries." Russell said as he hugged her goodbye, then said his farewells to Alphonse before heading for the bar where he could keep an eye on Winry and intervene, not in case Winry needed rescuing, but in case Alphonse needed saving from her wrench.

"I'm really sorry Winry, it was unavoidable." Alphonse apologised again.

"What was unavoidable?" Winry asked, her eyes begging Alphonse for the truth, or even a coherent answer. Instead he just looked away from her, wanting so desperately to tell Winry the truth but unable to think of any feasible excuse.

"OK," Winry said quietly in defeat as Alphonse failed to answer her, and, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, she walked away.

"No, Winry, please..." Alphonse begged as he grabbed her arm.

"No Alphonse!" Winry shouted as she pushed him away. "Don't you get it? Every question I ask you gets a vague non-answer. What is so awful that you're afraid to tell me?"

Winry turned and marched toward the door, and Alphonse began to follow her but she soon stopped as she bumped into an elderly man.

"I'm so sorry!" Winry apologised helping the man steady himself, but he was staring at Alphonse in shock.

"I know you. My god..." the old man breathed.

"I'm sorry?" Alphonse said, confused.

"I know you. How can it be?"

"I think you have me mistaken for someone else, sir."

"No. It must be you. You haven't aged a day..."

Alphonse's golden eyes widened in shock, while Winry looked between them in confusion.

"I'm sorry, sir, excuse me," Alphonse apologised to the man as he quickly ushered Winry away. The man's eyes followed Alphonse all the way to the door. He couldn't be certain of many things these days, but he was certain he had just seen a boy he hadn't seen in over fifty years, a boy who should have been the same age as he, but looking no older than the last time he had seen him.

Outside, Winry had swiftly begun to make her way home while Alphonse tried to keep up with her.

"Winry, please. Can I take you home and we can talk about things?"

Winry stopped dead in her tracks. "Why wait until we're at my house? Let's talk now. What was that little incident back there about?"

"I... I don't know," Alphonse said, unable to look Winry in the eye. "It was... nothing."

"Right. Nothing." Winry took a deep breath, not wanting to leave but knowing she couldn't stay. "Look, I've got to Alphonse, I'll see you around maybe."

"Winry, wait!" Alphonse called after her, but she paid him no heed. All Alphonse could do was watch her walk away from him, and listen to her almost silent sobs as she tried to hold back tears.

* * *

Later that evening Kain Fuery was at the bar of the Risembool Bistro, nervously awaiting his dinner with Riza, and was trying to arm himself with a little Dutch courage. He knew that one false move tonight and Riza would never forgive him; he wouldn't put it past her to put a cap in his ass if he so much as looked at her the wrong way. As he was starting his fourth vodka tonic he noticed Sheriff Hughes enter the Bistro, who upon seeing Kain joined him at the bar.

"Evening Sheriff," Kain said politely, then lowered his voice. "Any news?"

Hughes spoke in the same hushed tones, fearful of being overheard. While in years gone by every resident of Risembool had been aware of vampires, nowadays they were just a legend, and the Sheriff intended to keep things that way.

"We went over the entire west side of the lake, all the caverns by the falls were clean, no signs of habitation."

"Perhaps they're staying town?," Kain pondered.

Hughes shook his head. "We canvassed all abandoned buildings and warehouses."

"There has to be a private residence then."

"And that will much harder to locate, if not impossible." Hughes sighed and took off his glasses to polish them. "These creatures are smart; they know how to go undetected."

Kain nodded in agreement. "Although someone who only comes out at night should become obvious pretty soon."

Hughes pushed his glasses back onto his nose. "What about the watch?"

"I'm working on it." Kain drained his glass.

"I knew the Rockbells; that watch is passed down through the men in that family. I'd start with Ling."

Just then Riza arrived, and had been so wrapped up in her thoughts of how she could empty Kain's wallet that night hadn't heard any of the conversation between the two men.

"Hello, Kain," she said deadpan, though she spoke to Hughes in a much warmer voice. "Good evening, Sheriff Hughes."

"Good evening, Riza. Well, I'd best be on my way, I have a patrol to organise." Hughes left, and as Riza was busy ordering several drinks on Kain's tab, he shot Kain a look that said don't screw up this chance to get the watch.

"I can't believe you really came," Kain said turning back to Riza and blanching slightly at the sight of the number of shots she had already drunk.

"You have an hour. Make it count." Riza said bluntly.

* * *

After making it home without crying, the pressure had finally become too much for Winry and she sobbed as she ran up to her room. After crying for what seemed like hours she had calmed down enough to clean herself up, and then, without realising it she was reaching under her bed, pulling out the old shoebox with her diary inside and began to write.

"_I tried. I want so much to make things right, but every instinct in my body is telling me to be careful. What you don't know can hurt you."_

**Anyone spot the gratuitous reference to the anime? Reviews greatly appreciated! :)**


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Getting to Know You

**So, after a loooooooong wait, here's chapter 14 for you. I'm now in New Zealand and have been since the 27****th**** of March, currently I'm in Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty where I've got a job for the next 2 months grading kiwifruit. The hours are horrendous, 7am to 7.45pm 6 days a week, but the pay is good. I should have earned $6000 by the end of the 2 months which will see me through several more months of travelling, especially if I keep my account topped up by taking waitressing or bar jobs. At the moment I'm writing whenever I can, but as I'm sure you can appreciate I'm here primarily to travel rather than write so updates will be sporadic. In the mean time, enjoy chapter 14, I'm sorry it's so short but the next chapter should be a bit longer. Reviews greatly appreciated! **

Chapter Fourteen

Getting to Know You

"Are you OK?" Ling encountered Winry just as she came out of her room, slightly bleary eyed, as he was returning to his.

"Is Rose in there?" Winry asked, choosing to ignore her brother's question as she blatantly wasn't OK.

"Don't answer a question with another question," shot back at her. "Maybe. What's wrong with you?"

Winry sighed. "I'm miserable."

"Well, perhaps you should have something to eat, might make you feel better." Ling winked at her mysteriously as he entered his room, although Winry didn't see it as she was already heading down stairs to make her way through a large tub of ice cream. As she reached the bottom of the stairs she could hear the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen, which confused her as Riza was out and Ling was the only other person in the house. Perhaps Kain hadn't made good on his dinner date.

"Aunt Riza? Are you home already?" Winry called, but soon stopped in surprise as she entered the kitchen and saw the person who seemed to be preparing a three course meal. "Alphonse? What are you doing here?"

"Cooking dinner," Alphonse answered simply. "Ling told me that chicken parmesan is one of your favourites, and I happen to be a good cook. And for dessert we have apple pie, although I've heard that your apple pies are legendary in Risembool so I can only hope it tastes half as good as yours."

"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish," Winry said, both angry and impressed that Ling had managed to organise this without her knowing.

"You want to know me, right? Well, I thought that if you're going to dump me you should at least know who you're dumping." Alphonse said as he put the dinner in the oven. "So let's start with her... with Winry."

"Alphonse..." Winry felt uncomfortable talking about his ex, especially one who shared her name.

"She was... the most beautiful girl I had ever met. She was beautifully pale, and she had this laugh. It was ridiculous; her laugh made you laugh. And she was fun; she knew how to have a good time. But Winry was also very impatient and selfish and... impulsive. Enter Edward. He claims that he was with her first, I don't know. I do know that I did some things that... I'm not proud of. And my biggest regret, is not being able to make it right before she died. I miss her, but I'm no longer crippled by her loss."

"Alphonse," Winry said, this time with sympathy, and came closer to help him prepare the dinner.

"On a lighter note, I'm an avid reader, non-fiction mostly, alchemy and chemistry books and the like. But I'm not a complete academic; I like a good novel occasionally too. And movies, pretty much anything goes, I'll even watch a soppy romantic comedy where you can tell how it's going to end before the titles come up. Music is pretty much across the board too, anything goes in that department, even the teeny bopper stuff. Easy!" Alphonse finished as Winry shot him a look of surprise.

"I didn't say anything!" Winry giggled as she began chopping garlic. "This is for the garlic bread, right? Because I'm not eating garlic unless you are."

Alphonse smiled at her. "Are you kidding? I love garlic."

Winry grinned and resumed chopping the garlic, but as she was concentrating more on Alphonse she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her finger.

"Argh!" she gasped, looking at her finger where blood was already seeping from the cut.

"Are you OK?" Alphonse asked, even as the sweet tang of blood reached his nostrils and began vamping out without realising.

"Yeah, I think so. I just nicked my finger." It was Winry's turn to look at Alphonse with worry. "Al, your face..."

Seeing his vampiric reflection in the window Alphonse suddenly turned away from her. "I... I think I got something in my eye." Alphonse gasped, desperately trying to calm himself.

"Here, Al, let me have a look." Winry tried to turn Alphonse around to check his eye.

"No!" Alphonse protested. "No, its fine, I've got it."

Feeling his features return to normal Alphonse faced Winry, looking none the worse for wear. Winry remembered how his face had looked just a moment ago and knew that something wasn't right. She looked at him with concern, although Alphonse returned her look with one of nonchalance.

"I'm fine, Winry. I just rubbed some chilli in my eye." Alphonse smiled at her, and returned to preparing dinner.

Winry watched Alphonse with worry; if he had rubbed chilli in his eye there was no way he would have recovered from it so quickly, but more to the point, they hadn't even been using chilli. Rather than dismissing Winry's concerns, Alphonse had actually added more questions to her ever growing list.

* * *

Upstairs, Ling and Rose were enjoying each other's company; they lay snuggled together on Ling's bed.

"It was very nice what you did for Alphonse," Rose said, smiling at Ling. "Very romantic."

"Well, I was feeling romantic," Ling answered, very pleased with himself.

"Look what I found in the bathroom earlier," Rose sat up and shook a small bottle at Ling before reading the label. "Winry Rockbell, take one tablet every four to six hours, as needed for pain."

"Those are left over from the car accident," Ling said with concern.

A sly grin had appeared on Rose's face. "So she won't miss them."

Rose got off the bed, going over to Ling's desk where she tipped the pills onto the surface. Looking for something to crush them with her eyes came upon Ling's pocket watch. She reached for it, but Ling snatched it from her.

"No, not with that!" Ling cried out. "That's an antique."

Rose rolled her eyes at him, picked up a nearby paperweight and began crushing the tablets.

"You know, I feel like we're always getting high," Ling sighed.

"That's the beauty of choice."

"Well, then let's choose not to," Ling said, putting his hand on Rose's and moving it away from the drugs. "I mean, we don't have to be high all the time, right?"

Rose looked at him, unimpressed. "I really hope you're not one of those guys who, now that we're together, tries to change everything about me."

"No," Ling said sheepishly.

"Good," Rose smiled as she made him a line of the crushed pills.

* * *

That evening Elicia was having trouble organising the charity car wash; people were not co-operating with her over the theme. Several girls had already refused to wear bikinis and even the boys were not as enthusiastic as she had thought they would be about being topless. Her list of volunteers was getting ever smaller, and sighing, she decided to give up for the night, flopping down on her bed exhausted.

"_Elicia_..."

There was that voice again, Elicia rubbed her forehead, hoping that would relieve the headache that was beginning form. She had been hearing that voice, which sounded disturbingly like Edward, calling her name for hours now. She threw a pillow over her head, hoping that would drown out the sound.

"_Elicia. Elicia_..."

Elicia cursed. Why was she still hearing Edward's voice? She was so over that creep. She decided it was just the stress of organising the car wash causing her to hear voices, and got up to get an aspirin to try and halt the headache that beginning to besiege her. Perhaps that would stop the voice too.

"_Elicia_..."

"Goddamit, get out of my head," she moaned, clutching her temples.

As she reached for her door, Elicia heard a crow cawing nearby. Turning around she saw it sitting at her window. Elicia had reached the end of tether.

"Shoo, shoo!" Elicia ran over to scare the crow away. "SHOO!"

The crow flew away and Elicia made her way downstairs. She didn't notice that the voice had stopped calling her name after the crow had fled; she attributed that instead to the aspirin relieving her headache.

Edward felt his tenuous link with Elicia shatter; groaning at the energy he had wasted he turned over onto his back. He grinned to himself as he sensed his jailer at the door.

"I bet you're feeling pretty good about yourself, aren't you?" Edward said breathlessly.

"Not particularly," Alphonse replied sadly.

"You won, you got the bad guy. Now nothing can come between you and Winry." Edward looked his brother in the eye, a small spark of golden fire still burning. "Except the truth. The lies will catch up with you, Alphonse. As long as you keep lying to yourself about what you are."

"You know the beauty of you in there and me out here... is that I can walk away."

Edward turned away as Alphonse left, and began the long, agonising process of trying to re-establish his mental link with Elicia, cursing his brother for interrupting him. Edward determined to make Alphonse pay when he got out of that infernal cellar.

* * *

As Elicia surveyed the college car park she was relieved to admit that the turnout for the sexy suds car wash was better than she could have hoped. Most of the people who had bailed on her had had a change of heart and had turned up in the name of charity, and there was a steady stream of car owners arriving, though these were mostly men of a certain age.

Elicia briefed her troops. "No friend discounts. No freebies. No IOU's. We're doing this for charity, so we need as big a turnover as we can make."

Winry who was standing at the back of the group, had mostly been ignoring Elicia's pep talk as she greeted Alphonse who had just arrived. They were soon discovered by Elicia, however, when the group dispersed.

"The event is called _sexy_ suds, you know," Elicia said as she passed them, looking disapprovingly at their choice of attire, which showed no flesh at all.

"Did we just get scolded?" Alphonse asked.

"And judged," Winry giggled. She ran her hand over Alphonse's shirt. "I'm sorry Al, but I'm afraid you're going to have to take this off."

Alphonse looked at her, a cheeky glint in her eye. "Alright, but you have to go first."

Winry was about to argue, but decided to just give in and began pulling off her sweater. Besides the sooner she stripped off, the sooner Alphonse would. Unfortunately, she didn't exactly remove her sweater with the womanly grace and dignity she would have liked, Alphonse even had to help her pull it over her head when it got stuck.

"Sorry," she apologised. "That was so not sexy."

Alphonse smiled and kissed her. "I disagree."

Unbeknownst to them Winry and Alphonse were being watched by an over-protective best friend.

"Look at him, Paninya," Russell fumed. "He's only known her five minutes and he's already all over her."

"I'm sure if Winry didn't want the attention Al would be feeling the blunt end of her wrench." Paninya pulled Russell away from the scene and towards a car that had just been driven in. "And like you wouldn't be like that with Elicia given half a chance."

Russell immediately went bright red and quickly changed the subject. Another car pulled up at the car wash and Paninya called over a girl to wash it.

"How come I get the ugly cars?" she complained, before turning to the driver. "Just to be clear your car's a P.O.S. We can clean it but it's still a P.O.S."

The driver looked at the girl incredulous, leaving Paninya to apologise. "You don't have to be rude," she scolded the girl.

"Well rude is uglying up the road with that junk."

Paninya couldn't believe someone could be so rude when doing something for charity, and she stared at the girl as she went to get a bucket of water, annoyed. Without realising it, Paninya was concentrating on the water in the bucket, and just as the girl took hold of it water splashed up and soaked her.

"What the hell?" the girl screamed. Paninya turned away and hurriedly left the scene, afraid that someone might have seen her.

* * *

Winry and Alphonse eventually managed to tear themselves apart from each other for long enough to join in the car wash, and were working on a car together when Winry noticed Alphonse was still wearing his ring.

"You're getting soap in that," she said concerned.

Alphonse looked down at his left hand. "No, it's fine."

"I noticed that Edward has one too," Winry asked, trying yet again to find out more about Alphonse. "Is there a story behind it?"

"Yeah, it's the Elric family crest, all the Elric men have one."

"Cool. What's the stone?"

Alphonse began to finger the ring. "It's called Lapis Lazuli."

"You should really take it off; either it will get damaged or you'll scratch a car. I could put it in my bag."

"No!" Alphonse said, a little too quickly, as Winry reached to take it off. "No, it's fine, really. Thanks, though."

"OK," Winry said, a little disconcerted at Alphonse's insistence. "I'm going to get some towels."

Winry went to find Elicia, who had of course taken the easy job of taking people's money.

"Elicia, we're out of towels and chamois cloths."

Elicia sighed and got up from behind her makeshift desk. "OK, I'll go get some more. Mind the money."

Winry took Elicia's place behind the desk and Elicia headed into the college to fetch another box of towels from her locker.

"_Elicia..._" There was that voice again. Elicia shook her head, unlike the last time she'd heard it she didn't have a headache, so she couldn't attribute it to that. Perhaps it was just the stress of organising the car wash. "_Elicia... Elicia, help me. Elicia. Help me, help me._"

Edward's voice resounded in her head with more force this time, and, without knowing where she was going, she began walking back out of the college towards the Elric mansion, all thoughts of towels and chamois cloths forgotten.

Winry, meanwhile, had a customer.

"That will be 20 sens, thank you sir." Winry looked up at the man as she took his money and found she recognised him. "I saw you last night. You were talking to a friend of mine, at the Bistro?"

The old man looked sheepish. "Well, I thought it was somebody I knew."

"Alphonse Elric." Winry smiled kindly at him.

"Nah, it couldn't be. It's just my mind playing tricks on me."

"Where did you think you'd seen him before?" Winry asked, her curiosity piqued.

"When I first moved here, I got friendly with the Elric's. Alphonse was just passing through to visit his cousins, no one even knew he was here until the attack."

"What attack was that?"

"His cousin's got killed, mauled by an animal in the woods."

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm not familiar with the story."

"Well you probably wouldn't have heard about it. I mean this happened years ago."

At that moment the girl that Paninya had watered appeared beside the old man, taking his arm and looking at him with concern.

"Grandpa, you shouldn't be out here alone. Mum wants you to come home, OK?"

"Oh, sorry honey," the man apologised, looking slightly confused. "I didn't mean to worry you."

The girl turned to Winry as the old man began to walk away. "He wasn't bothering you, was he? He's a little alzy-heimer."

"No, don't worry, he was sweet." Winry shook her head as she stood up, hurrying after the old man. "Excuse me sir! I'm sorry to bother you. Um, are you sure that the man you saw, that the man you knew, his name was Alphonse Elric?"

The man looked Winry in the eyes, and there was no sign of confusion there now. "Yes. I remember his ring, and his brother..."

"Edward?" Winry interrupted without meaning to.

"Yeah," the man nodded. "Alphonse and Edward Elric."

"When was this?"

"It was early June, 1955. Yeah, June. 1955."

Winry could barely breathe. It couldn't possibly have been Alphonse this man remembered; he was only 18. It must have been a relative. Who looked exactly like him and had the same name.


	16. Chapter Fifteen: The Truth Will Out

**Well, here you are, chapter fifteen, which I have been diligently working on for a while now. It's now properly winter here in New Zealand, cold, blustery and snowy (well down south I think anyway) and I'm in my usual winter funk, looking back at the previous summer and thinking how wonderful it was (even if it wasn't, I have this habit of looking at the past with rose-tinted glasses) but this time it's weird because I'd gotten over my UK winter funk just before I flew out here, and I was so excited at finally being in New Zealand to notice the weather getting wintry again, but now I've finished the kiwifruit job and not saved up as much as I thought from that and have money worries I'm realising how cold it is, how long it stays dark and getting all down and dismal again. Serves me right for coming out here as its becoming winter so I have a year long winter essentially and not budgeting my travels properly (I've just been doing things randomly and as they come, which is great fun and good for a trip of a couple of months, but not for a year long trip). But on the bright side I'm staying at a hostel for free in exchange for some cleaning work while I look for another job, and if I make it, I have a year long summer to look forward to from October-ish. Anyways, enough of my rambling, on with the story! As always reviews are greatly appreciated, and would really put a smile on my winter-blues face. :)**

Chapter Fifteen

The Truth Will Out

After spending the majority of the last twenty-four hours inside Ling had suggested that he and Rose get out of the house.

"At least for a little while," Ling had said upon seeing Rose's unamused expression. "We'll end up getting rickets or something!"

Rose chuckled. "Alright, so long as I get to choose where we go."

Half an hour later Rose was leading Ling through the woods, on a path she clearly knew very well.

"Where are we going, Rose?"

"Well, if we can't hang out in your room all the time we need somewhere else to enjoy ourselves," Rose smiled as they reached their destination. "Welcome to my other favourite party place."

"A cemetery?" Ling asked uncertainly.

Rose made her way past the long-forgotten headstones towards a crypt. "Yeah. It's cool, huh? No one bothers us here."

Ling was about to ask Rose what she meant by "us" but his question was answered when he saw five people around his age, two girls and three boys, gathered around the crypt, all at varying levels of highs and drunkenness.

"Hey Rose!" one of the boys, the most stoned, greeted Rose.

"Hey Jared," she replied.

"You got a new fancy-piece, hey?"

"This is Ling," Rose introduced him. "He's cool."

"Then my friend, smoke up." Jared passed Ling a joint, who took it after an encouraging, or possibly threatening, look from Rose.

* * *

Despite Elicia's absence the car wash was going smoothly, half the town had turned up to get their cars washed on the cheap and even the local TV news crew had come to film the school's fundraising efforts. Having had her car washed hours ago, Riza was now watching Kain Fuery film his piece to camera and was desperately trying to put him off, but to no avail. In front of the camera Kain was a professional through and through.

"All proceeds from the car wash are going to Risembool College's athletics department, which is still reeling from the tragic death of their rugby coach, and the College's history lecturer, Zolf Kimbley. It is truly heart-warming to see the citizens of Risembool coming together in support of one of their own." Kain said with emotion, before bluntly saying, "Cut it."

"Nicely done," Riza said as Kain walked over to her.

"Thank you," he said genuinely; deciding to be the bigger person and ignore the fact she had been trying to distract him.

"You're still going to film the girls in their bikinis, though, right?"

"Well, 53% of Amestrians watch the news with the sound off."

"Classy." Riza looked away from Kain, suddenly interested in what the cameramen were doing by the van. "Thank you for dinner, by the way."

Kain was interrupted before he could respond; just at that moment Winry joined them.

"Hi, Winry Rockbell, Riza's adopted niece," Winry quickly introduced herself to Kain, who shook her hand and introduced himself, before turning to Riza. "Is he enough in your good graces that I can ask him for a favour?"

Seeing an opportunity, Kain quickly put in, "If I do her a favour will I get back in your good graces?"

Riza looked from Winry to Kain; both of them had pleading grins on their faces.

"All right," she agreed after a moment. "A very reluctant maybe to both of you."

"Done," Kain answered quickly. "Wait; one condition. Dinner, tonight, at your house."

"Fine, but you're eating leftovers," Riza sighed.

"I love leftovers," Kain said enthusiastically then asked Winry, "What do you need?"

"Do you have access to old news stories, say, from the fifties?"

"Yeah, at the station. We've got everything we've filmed archived."

"I have a report that is the wrong side of its deadline, it'd be a lifesaver if I could have a look?"

"Sure, no problem. I'm not heading back there so I can give you a lift."

"Thank you so much, Mr Fuery, you don't know how grateful I am!" Winry gushed as though she really did have an overdue report. Before she followed Kain to his car she turned to Riza, who looked stunned that Kain was actually doing something for someone other than himself. "If anyone asks, you don't know where I went. I don't want Elicia to know that I left."

* * *

Elicia, meanwhile, was completely unconcerned about who was or wasn't at the car wash. In fact, she wasn't much concerned about anything, except for following the voice that floated in her head and drew her in towards the Elric Manor.

"_Elicia... help me. Elicia..._" Edward's voice got louder and stronger the closer she got to the house; Elicia opened the front door, despite it being locked, and left it open so the afternoon sunlight flooded around her like water as she made her way down the hall.

"_Elicia... help me... the cellar..."_ Elicia followed the voice's directions, taking the cellar keys, which Alphonse had foolishly left hanging in the kitchen by the cellar door, she made her way down the stone steps and came to the door of Edward's prison.

"Edward?" she said quietly as she came to her senses, then she exclaimed. "Edward? Oh, my god! What's going on? How did I know that you were here?"

Edward groaned in pain as he gingerly stood up. "Because I wanted you to know I was here. Very, very badly. Now, let me out of here."

Elicia was unsure. "You bit me."

"You liked it. Remember?" Edward began to walk towards the door.

"Why do I keep remembering the same things, but in different ways?" Elicia asked confused.

"You remember what I want you to remember," Edward said matter-of-factly. "And now that the vervain has passed out of your system, you won't remember what you're about to do."

Elicia tried to look away from Edward, but she found herself captivated by his golden eyes. "What am I going to do?" she whispered.

Edward compelled her. "You're going to open the door, Elicia."

Elicia obediently began to unlock the door, but the sound of the lock clicking open broke Edward's weak compulsion and she looked up to see Edward's vamped out face before her. Edward snarled as he pulled the door open, while Elicia screamed and ran. Weak with hunger Edward couldn't outrun Elicia, but his predatory instincts allowed him to keep up with her. Elicia was halfway up the stairs when she tripped, and Edward managed to grab hold of her leg. But before he could bite her Elicia kicked Edward in the face, who screamed in pain and recoiled as Elicia made good her escape. Not one to be deterred easily Edward crawled up the remaining stairs and burst into the kitchen just as Elicia ran into the hallway; growling Edward followed her but as he came towards the front door he was forced back as the sunlight burned his skin. Howling in pain, Edward retreated to the shadows and watched in anger as Elicia's silhouette disappeared into the distance.

* * *

Back at the carwash the girl who Paninya had soaked had taken charge as both Elicia and Winry had disappeared. Deciding to get her own back (she was sure Paninya had caused the bucket of water to splash over her somehow, though she couldn't prove it) she waltzed over to Paninya and shoved a broom into her hands.

"Sweeper duty," she said cheerily.

"What?" Paninya asked confused.

"We have to clean the pavement," the girl said bluntly.

"It's a car wash, therefore the pavement's clean."

"But not dry."

"And I'm doing this because?"

"Elicia bailed, which leaves me in charge. Wonderful." The girl smiled and walked away with a spring in her step.

Paninya stared after her angrily, wanting to lash out at the girl, and without her noticing a small flame sprang to life beside her, and began to spread towards the car that the girl had just passed. Unconsciously Paninya fed her anger into the flame, making it bigger and causing it to set fire to the car. The tyres began to burn and soon the whole car was engulfed. Paninya just stood staring at the car, immersed in the feeling of power and channelling her anger through the fire, which in turn fed her power and caused the flames to grow. Through her foggy mind she heard someone calling her name.

"Paninya!" It was Alphonse, and he was shaking her as if trying to wake her. "Paninya! Hey, Paninya!"

Paninya suddenly came to her senses; the flames receded as her feeling of power and anger disappeared and were replaced instead by fear as she saw the scorched car.

"What just happened?"

"You were in some kind of a trance; you were just staring at the car as it burned." Alphonse looked her, concerned.

"Did I do this?" she whispered, afraid.

Alphonse nodded. "I think so, yes."

"Nobody else saw, did they?" Paninya's eyes darted around wildly searching for onlookers. "Don't tell anybody. Please, Alphonse."

"Cross my heart and hope to die," Alphonse smiled kindly.

"Thank you," she whispered before passing him the broom and hurrying away from the scene as people began to notice the burnt car. She had to go and talk to Pinako about this; she didn't know what was happening to her and it frightened the life out of her. Alphonse, however, thought he had an idea about what was going on as he watched Paninya flee the scene, and it worried him to think that Paninya had gone this long without learning of her powers. Just then Russell came over to Alphonse, clearly in search of someone.

"Hey, have you seen Winry?" he asked. "She was supposed to be watching the cash desk but she's disappeared."

Alphonse shook his head. "I haven't seen her since she went to get some towels and stuff from Elicia, and that was almost an hour ago."

"She wouldn't have just gone off without getting someone to cover for her," Russell said worriedly, before looking at Alphonse, almost accusingly. "She's been acting awfully out of character recently."

"Really?" Alphonse asked, trying to be nonchalant. No doubt that if Winry was acting out of character it was because of him.

"Listen, Al, I'm not saying this for you, I'm saying it for her." Russell fixed him with his steely silver stare. "Winry's big on trust, so whatever you're holding back from her, the more you try to hide it, the more she won't stop until she figures it out."

* * *

Figuring out Alphonse's secret was exactly what was on Winry's mind as Kain drove her to the news station, and after a ten minute drive they arrived. Kain led Winry past the security guards and through the maze of hallways to a small room with no furniture in it but a computer, desk and chair. Kain gestured to the computer at which Winry sat while he booted it up for her.

"We digitised all our archives last year. You can pull up any footage we've ever shot right up on screen. What exactly is it you're looking for?" Kain enquired.

Winry paused, how much should she let Kain know? "An incident from 1955, if it even happened. At the Elric Manor." She was saved from having to give Kain any more details as his mobile phone began to ring.

"Sorry, one moment," Kain apologised as he answered. "Hello? All right, I'll be right there." Kain snapped the phone shut and put it back in his jacket pocket. "I've got to go, can you believe there's actual news to cover in this town? So, you just use keywords to search the database, it's pretty easy to navigate, just like your basic search engine. If you need any help just go see the tech guys, tell them I sent you."

Winry nodded. "Thanks so much Mr Fuery."

"No problem, just put in a good word for me with Riza," Kain winked.

"Will do."

"OK, good luck," Kain called as he hurried off.

Winry turned to the computer and began to type; Elric. Manor. Attack. 1955. She didn't have to wait long for the computer to find something, there were numerous reports with one or more of the keywords she had used. Mayor Bradley's policies attacked (January 1955), Risembool Rangers win 1955 rugby league, Elric Manor for sale (August 1955), Elric Manor abandoned (February 1956)... and there right at the top was what she looking for: Fatal Animal Attack at Elric Manor (June 1955). Winry paused for a moment before opening the file; this might provide her with answers, but what if she didn't like them? Well, it was too late now, she reasoned, she'd come this far and she needed to know the truth, no matter what the truth was. She clicked on the file and a black and white film began playing; a man wearing a Macintosh and glasses who bore a resemblance to Kain stood before the Elric Manor as he spoke gravely to the camera.

"_This is Michael Fuery reporting to you from the Elric Manor, where a brutal animal attack has ended in tragedy."_ Winry listened to the slightly grainy voice and watched as the black and white figure turned towards the house as a door opened. _"OK, they're bringing out the bodies. See if you can get closer."_ The camera zoomed in to reveal paramedics manoeuvring gurneys out of the doorway. _"Who is that? Is that the cousin?"_ the voice seemed to thunder in Winry's head as she saw a figure appear at the door after the gurneys had been wheeled out. The camera zoomed in a little more and the figure spotted the camera, and quickly darted back inside the building. Winry rewound the video slightly and pressed pause just as the figure looked at the camera.

Her heart thudded in her chest and she could barely breathe as she stared at Alphonse's face. He looked _exactly_ as he had when she had left him barely an hour ago; it had to be Alphonse, no one could look so similar to someone else, not even a twin. But how could he be there in 1955, looking as youthful as he did today? Common sense told her it was another relative; a grandfather, uncle or cousin, but a relative that distant couldn't possibly bear such a resemblance to him. Stories her mother used to tell her began to surface in her mind, stories that couldn't possibly be true, but would be the only explanation for Alphonse, and the strange events of the last few days. Winry wanted to go home. She stood up so quickly the chair fell over and she ran out of the news studio without even turning the computer off; leaving Alphonse's face still staring from the screen.

* * *

Ling watched the sun disappear behind the trees as the afternoon began to turn into evening, and Rose noticed his rather melancholy look.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I'm stoned in a cemetery," he answered blearily, slightly ashamed of himself.

"So? They don't mind, they're dead," Rose gestured to the headstones and crypts. "Let's take this up a notch. Tony, catch." She threw something to Tony, one of the other boys, who caught it deftly despite being high as a kite.

"Oh, nice!" he exclaimed.

The girl sitting next to Tony took the object from him. "Well, thank you, Winry Rockbell, whoever you are."

"You took those from the house?" Ling said in shock as he realised it was Winry's painkillers that the girl had in her hands.

Rose shrugged. "Winry wasn't using them."

"She's going to notice if they're gone though." Ling got up and took the bottle of pills from the girl who protested mildly before returning to her joint.

"It's no big deal, Ling."

"Yeah, it kind of is, Rose," Ling snapped as he made to leave.

"Damn, dude, I thought you were cool," Jared moaned, while Tony taunted, "Rose brought the party police."

"Shut up, Tony," Rose threw him a dirty look as she hurried after Ling. "Ling, wait! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad."

"Well, what are we doing, partying in a cemetery with a bunch of losers?"

"Those are my friends," Rose said in a hurt voice.

"They're waste of space small-town lifers..."

"Yeah? And what am I?" Rose asked incredulous.

"You're different, Rose, you're better than them." Ling tried to take Rose's hand but she pushed him away.

"No, you are Ling. You're the guy who grew up on the right side of town with the big house and the great job who's acting out because his parents died. Well, guess what, you're going to get over it. You will pull yourself together and move on, and one day you'll tell your kids stories about your dark period growing up. And I'll still be here, waiting tables at the Bistro and partying at the cemetery with a bunch of waste of space small-town lifers." There were tears in her eyes as she finished her speech.

"Rose..." Ling began, but he couldn't think what to say. She was right after all.

Rose shook her head and turned away. "Go home, Ling. If I want to feel like crap about myself, I'll just go back to Selim."

Ling watched Rose disappear back into the cemetery before he pocketed the painkillers and made his way home.

Rose returned to the cemetery upset, both at Ling for what he had said and at her life in general, she tried to join in with the others but just wasn't in the mood. It was dark when the music that was playing from Jared's car suddenly stopped and everyone immediately stated it wasn't their turn to change the CD; Rose however wasn't quick enough as she was lost in thought and reluctantly got up to sort out the music.

"At least I can put something I want on," she thought as she looked through the dismal CD collection. Rose jumped as she heard someone coughing just outside the car.

"Jeez, Jared, don't scare me like that," she said, but then realised it wasn't Jared who was leaning against the car coughing and gasping for breath.

"Hey, man, are you OK?" she asked the blond man.

He gasped, "Come here. Come here."

"You don't look too good," Rose said as she moved towards him, and as she got closer she thought he looked familiar.

"Come closer," the blond man said. "I have something... I have to tell you."

The man began to fall but Rose just managed to catch him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, I've got you. It's OK, I'll get you help." Too late Rose realised who the man was, and screamed as she felt a sharp pain in her neck, but Edward put his hand over her mouth and continued to drink her blood, moaning in ecstasy as he felt his strength returning to him.

* * *

Elicia lay on her bed with her back to her door, staring out of her window at the stars. She thinking about what had happened that afternoon with Edward, how he had entered her mind and made her leave the car wash, made her rescue him and then tried to make her into dinner. She had run straight home from the Manor and had sheltered in the safety of her room. But she knew she wasn't really safe there; Edward had been in her house, in her room, and Edward was a vampire, and if what she knew about vampires were true he would be able to enter her house whenever he wished from now on. And she had brought him into Winry's home too, endangering her. Did Winry know he was a vampire? Did she know Alphonse was a vampire too? Was Alphonse as dangerous as his brother? Elicia didn't think he was, but what if it was just a clever ruse to get a meal? Should she tell Winry the danger she was in? These questions all floated about her head and she couldn't find the answers to any of them when she was jolted out of her thoughts by a quiet knock at her door. She didn't turn around as her father entered the room.

"I didn't see you at the car wash this afternoon," said Maes concerned.

"Left early," Elicia said quietly.

Maes looked with concern at his daughter laying with her back to him on her bed, her long brown hair loose from its usual ponytails and flowing over her back. Something was clearly wrong and he wanted to fix it; that's what fathers did.

"Elicia, sweetheart, are you OK?" He walked a little further into the room. "Anything you want to talk about? Is it a boy thing?" Maes' hand unconsciously went his gun upon mentioning the word boy; if anyone hurt his little girl there would hell to pay. Elicia turned around, saw her father's hand on his gun and looked him square in the eyes.

"Dad, if I want to talk boys I'll call mum. At least she wouldn't shoot anyone who so much as winked me."

Elicia lay back down; resolutely presenting her back to her father to indicate the conversation was over. Maes looked at her, shocked, before pushing his glasses back up his nose turning to leave. He didn't know what was wrong with his little girl recently. They used to be so close, doing everything together, Elicia telling him everything, but in the last few months she had grown more and more distant and independent. Maes supposed it was natural; she was 18 after all, she was a woman now, legally an adult in charge of her own affairs, he couldn't expect them to still be as close as they were when she was little. But still he just couldn't bear to think that his little girl had grown up.

* * *

Paninya had spent the afternoon hiding in her room, both from other people and herself. She was scared witless after what had happened at the car wash. How had she made a car catch fire? The little things with the candles and weird feelings had freaked her out, but she could live with those, they were trivial little tricks compared to the car. This power she had frightened her, who knew what she was capable of? She certainly didn't, and she didn't know how to control herself; she had done all these things without thinking about it, without knowing how to do it. If she did know how to control her power then she didn't have to use it. Paninya decided she needed answers; she needed to know what she was and how to deal with this, and though she didn't want to admit it, there was only one person who would know how to help her.

Paninya knocked on Pinako's front door later that evening, and found Winry's grandmother welcoming her in with a kind and knowing look on her face, as if she had been expecting her.

"I don't know what's happening to me, Pinako," Paninya cried.

"I know, dear," Pinako said gently as she embraced Paninya (a task made quite difficult given Pinako's tiny stature). "You and I need to have a long overdue talk."

* * *

Winry sat at her desk after dinner that night (Riza had been surprisingly friendly towards Kain over dinner, which seemed to make him rather ill at ease and nervous), staring at herself in her mirror as she was lost in thought. She heard voices outside her door; Ling asking what Kain was doing in his room, and Kain explaining he was looking for the bathroom. She ignored them and got out her diary and began to write.

"_Dear Diary, I'm not a believer. People are born, they grow old, and then they die. That's the world we live in. There's no magic, no mysticism, no immortality. There's nothing that defies rational thought. People are supposed to be who they say they are, and not lie or hide their true selves. It's not possible. I'm not a believer, I can't be. But how can I deny what's right in front of my eyes? Someone who never grows old..._

The black and white image of Alphonse's face flashed through her mind, as she heard the words June 1955...

_Never gets hurt..._

She saw Alphonse's hand covered in blood but with not a scratch on it...

_Someone who changes in ways that can't be explained..._

She remembered how Alphonse's face had changed that night he cooked for her, chilli in his eye even though they weren't using chilli...

_Girls bitten..._

Elicia's neck and shoulder's covered in bite marks and bruises...

_Bodies drained of blood..._

Rose had said it was a vampire that had attacked her, and she remembered her mother's children's tales of vampires... but it couldn't be true, it wasn't possible.

Vampires weren't real.

Vampires weren't real.

This was what she kept telling herself as she drove over to the Elric Manor in Riza's car.

* * *

Alphonse arrived home later than he planned that evening; he had gone hunting after the car wash and hadn't had any success until the sun had gone down, his predatory senses worked better after dark he remembered bitterly. Alphonse got out his keys to unlock the front door but found it slightly ajar. Panic flooded him; he immediately feared the worst case scenario as he stepped inside. His fears were realised when he saw a trail of black feathers that led to the mutilated body of a crow in the middle of the hall. He rushed into the kitchen to find the door to the cellar wide open and the keys missing from their hook, he clung to a tiny ray of hope that Edward was still in the cellar as he flew down the stone steps, but it was soon put out when he saw that that door too was wide open and Edward was nowhere to be seen.

Cursing Alphonse ran back up to his room, wondering how Edward had managed to break free as he searched through an old leather trunk. He soon found what he was looking for, and weighed the wooden stake in his hand as he made his way back downstairs to begin his hunt for Edward. He threw open the front door to find Winry standing there, steely eyed and scared.

"What are you?"


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Fact and Fiction

**Bit of a short and sweet chapter this one, apologies for that, but hopefully the next chapter should be longer as we have, drum roll please... flashbacks! That's right, there will be the first of many flashbacks to Alphonse and Edward's past so that should be interesting to write, and, hopefully, read. Even though this chapter was shorter than normal it still had some fun bits to write, mostly the telephone conversation between Edward and Alphonse in the middle of the chapter. Anyway, just to let you all know I've been working at a dairy farm in the Canterbury Plains and so I had some time to write in the evenings and on days off (although I mostly spending those sightseeing and attempting to learn to snowboard, at which I epicly failed) so I could knock out a couple of chapters for you. However the only access I had to the internet was by using my employers/ hosts laptop which I didn't want to abuse, hence the late update. But I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please review! I love to know what you all think of the story. :)**

Chapter Sixteen

Fact and Fiction

"What are you?" Winry demanded. "What are you?"

Alphonse took a deep breath. This was not how he had wanted Winry to find out his secret. "You know," he said quietly.

"No, I don't." Winry shook her head, not in ignorance but in disbelief that Alphonse wasn't even attempting to protest his innocence.

"Yes, you do, or you wouldn't be here."

"It's not possible," Winry began to back away from the door. "It can't be."

"Everything you know, and every belief that you have is about to change. Are you ready for that?" Alphonse fixed Winry with a look that told her he was deadly serious, and that she was not going to like what she was about to hear.

"What. Are. You?" Winry repeated slowly.

"I'm a vampire."

Winry could barely breathe. "I shouldn't have come," she whispered as she retreated to the car, only to find her path blocked by Alphonse, who seemed to have materialised there from the door.

"Please, Winry..." he begged.

"No!" Winry shouted. "No! How can you do that? No one can move that fast!"

She tried to push past Alphonse but he gently took hold of her arm and stopped her.

"Please don't be afraid of me."

"Alphonse, let me go," Winry said quietly, and dangerously.

"No," Alphonse shook his head. "Winry there's things that you have to know and understand."

"Let me go!" This time Winry pulled herself from Alphonse's grip, and before he could stop her again she jumped into her car.

"Winry! Wait..." But Alphonse's request fell on deaf ears as Winry started the engine and sped off along the drive. She didn't believe what she had just heard, it couldn't be true. Vampires were myths, legends, stories, tales told to make young children behave.

And yet it explained _everything_.

* * *

Winry sped home, driving on automatic pilot as her mind raced to process what she had discovered. She pulled into her yard, and flustered she dropped her door keys as she got out of the car. She bent down to retrieve them, but someone beat her to it; she looked up to see Alphonse standing before her, holding her keys out to her.

"How..." Winry began but Alphonse cut her off.

"Winry, I would _never _hurt you. You're safe with me."

Alphonse's caramel eyes held sincerity, but Winry still wasn't convinced.

"All those animal attacks, those people who died..."

"That was Edward, not me."

"Edward?" Of course, Winry thought, if Alphonse was a vampire then Edward must be one too. It would explain what had happened to Elicia.

"Yes. I don't drink human blood. That's not how I choose to survive, but Edward does." Alphonse sighed. "I'll explain everything to you, but I beg you, Winry, do not tell anybody."

"How can you ask that of me?" Winry was stunned, she had just discovered he was a vampire, a creature that fed on human blood and was a potential danger to her friends and family and he wanted her to keep his secret?

"Because you knowing what I am is dangerous, for so many reasons." Alphonse looked Winry in the eyes, and he seemed close to tears. "You can hate me, but I need you to trust me."

Winry looked at the ground. "Just go, Alphonse. If you mean me no harm, then just go."

"I never wanted you to find out like this," Alphonse said quietly as he gave Winry her keys back.

"Then how did you want me to find out, or was I supposed to stay in blissful ignorance forever?" Winry walked past him, and entered the house, closing the door in Alphonse's distraught face.

* * *

Smoke rose lazily from the cemetery high above the trees, there wasn't a single breath of wind to blow it any way except to the stars which looked down with the moon upon a scene of horror. Edward had feasted on the unlucky teenagers who had been there; being kept prisoner and starved for almost a week had made him madly ravenous, and though Elicia had escaped him he had called his crow to him and, animal instincts kicking in, had ripped the poor bird to shreds and drained it. He had then hid in the shadows of his house until the sun had set and he could pursue larger prey. Weak, Edward had stumbled his way towards the town, keeping to the woods in case a deer or some other animal came along that could slake his thirst; but he had been lucky and heard music playing, and he could just make out human voices too.

Following the music he had come upon a car parked near a cemetery, and sensing the humans were nearby he decided to lure them out by turning off the awful rap music emitting from the car's stereo. He went to hide behind a tree and within moments someone came to see why the music had stopped. If Edward hadn't been blinded by hunger he would have realised it was Rose Thomas who came to the car; when she sat in the passenger seat he went over to the car and began coughing.

"Jeez, Jared, don't scare me like that!" Rose had exclaimed when she heard him, and then, thinking Edward was sick, "Hey, man, are you OK?" Edward had beckoned her over and when she was close enough had grabbed her and bitten her. He didn't feed from her for long though; he could smell the feast that awaited him within the cemetery and dropping Rose's unconscious body to the ground he had gone to finish off the others.

Now, full strength returned to him, Edward was burning the evidence of his attack. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of burning flesh and pulled out a mobile phone from the pocket of one of the dead girls, a pretty brunette whose hair was now red with blood, and called his brother. Had he known how much worse this phone call would make Alphonse's evening he would have smiled.

"Hello?" Alphonse answered, not recognising the number.

"I want my ring," Edward said simply as he pulled the girl's body onto the fire. He could practically hear the colour draining from his brother's face.

"Where are you?" Alphonse asked, knowing from the sound of his voice that Edward had done something terrible. He was still standing outside Winry's house so he knew at least she was safe.

"I'm at the Sizzler, I had the buffet," Edward joked, before turning serious again. "Where's my ring?"

"I don't have it," Alphonse lied. "Where are you? What have you done?"

"No, Al, what have _you_ done?" Edward said cruelly, licking some blood from his lips. "You're the one that locked me in the basement and starved me, so whatever I've done and whoever I've sucked dry is on you."

"You're being careless, Ed. The town will only swallow so many animal attacks before becoming suspicious."

"I know how to cover my tracks, Alphonse, I have been doing this a while, you know. I'm not going to ask again. Where's my ring?"

Alphonse didn't answer for a while; he was trying to figure out his options. "I'll get it back, but I need time," he said after a moment.

Edward had just put the fifth body on the fire and he looked thoroughly exasperated. "What did you FedEx it to Xing or something? Get me my ring, Alphonse, or my next stop will be Winry's."

Alphonse tried to sound braver than he felt. "I already want you dead. Don't give me another reason to make it happen."

"Don't give _me_ another reason to rip you apart," Edward growled.

"Yeah? Is that going to be before or after you get your ring back?"

"Just get it, Al." Edward snapped the phone shut and threw it on the fire. He remembered he had one more body to burn, but when he got to Rose, who he had left forgotten by the car, he found she was actually regaining consciousness.

He cocked his head to the side in mild curiosity as Rose began to stir. "You just don't want to die, do you?" He bent down and gently picked Rose up, before disappearing in the direction of the Elric Manor; he intended to finish Rose off when he got home, but perhaps Edward would play with his food first.

* * *

The next day Winry had recovered herself enough to at least let Alphonse explain himself. She had sent him a text that morning telling him to meet her at the Bistro at midday (for some reason, despite the fact she knew Alphonse could somehow walk in the daylight, meeting him at midday made her feel safer) and as she sat at an outside table she wondered if she'd made a mistake. Before she could change her mind and leave a shadow fell across the table and she looked up to see Alphonse smiling timidly at her. She motioned for him to sit down.

"You said you would explain everything," Winry began before Alphonse could speak. "That's why I asked you to meet me here. When you look up "vampire" you get a world of fiction. I want you to tell me the facts."

"I can tell you whatever you want to know," Alphonse said simply.

"I know you eat garlic."

"Yes."

"And somehow sunlight isn't an issue for you." Winry wished she hadn't said that quite so loudly as at that moment a waitress came over with the coffee Winry had ordered before Alphonse had arrived. She thanked her quickly and sent her away before Alphonse had a chance to order anything for himself.

"Sunlight affects all vampires, but Edward and I have rings that protect us." Alphonse indicated his ring.

"What would happen if you took that off?"

Alphonse said quite matter-of-factly: "My skin would start to burn, then my whole body would catch fire and I'd burn until only a pile of ash was left."

Winry pulled a face._ No wonder he wouldn't take his ring off at the car wash_, she thought. "What about crucifixes? And Holy water?"

"Decorative and drinkable."

"Mirrors?"

"Complete myth."

So far everything Winry thought she had known about vampires seemed to be false, but what about the main fact, the need to feed on blood...

Winry took a sip of coffee, trying to seem nonchalant. "You said you don't kill to survive."

Alphonse shook his head. "Animal blood keeps me alive, but I'm not as strong as I could be; as strong as Edward. Human blood is more powerful."

Winry looked appalled. "And you let him get involved with Elicia?"

"Believe me, Winry, forcing Edward _not_ to do something is much more dangerous."

"He was hurting her!" Winry couldn't believe what she was hearing; how could Alphonse justify his brother's behaviour?

"He was feeding on her; he was able to take away her memories of being bitten using a kind of mind compulsion." Alphonse said calmly, as Winry's lower jaw began to sink closer to the table. "Elicia never knew what was happening to her. If Edward had wanted to kill her he would have."

"And that's supposed to make it OK?"

"No! No, none of this is OK, Winry. I know that. I'm just saying it could have been a lot worse."

Winry didn't say anything for while. She couldn't even look at Alphonse; instead she suddenly seemed very interested in her coffee.

After what seemed like an eternity to Alphonse, Winry asked: "Are there any others, aside from you and Edward?"

"Not in Risembool, not anymore."

Winry raised her eyebrows. "Not anymore?"

Alphonse sighed and looked down at the table. He looked as though he were remembering things he'd much rather forget. "There was a time when this town was... very much aware of vampires. And it didn't end well for anybody." He looked up suddenly, pleading caramel eyes meeting stubborn blue. "That's why it's important that you don't tell anyone about me or Edward."

Winry shook her head. "I can't promise that, for either of you."

"Winry, please..." Alphonse begged. "Just give me today. I will answer any questions that you have and then you can decide for yourself what you're going to do with what you know. It will be your choice."

Winry looked at Alphonse; he seemed sincere, but how did she know that he wasn't using the mind compulsion on her that he had said Edward used on Elicia? _Because if he was going to do that, he would just make me trust him and keep quiet; he wouldn't still be trying to explain himself_, she reasoned. She sighed; what harm could it do, letting Alphonse explain things? At least then if she still wanted to turn him in she would have more evidence to back up her wild claims.

"All right," she said at last. "I'll give you until tonight, Alphonse. After that, I make up my own mind."

* * *

Sheriff Hughes was not having a good day; trying to talk to Elicia at breakfast had not gone well, she had barely said two words to him before she practically ran out of the house, and then before he had even reached his office at the police station he had to turn around and go straight out on a case. That morning a dog walker had made a grisly discovery at the cemetery. Sheriff Hughes was currently looking at one of the five burnt bodies trying to find something to identify them when he heard someone approach.

"Never smelled one this bad before," Kain Fuery said, holding his nose and looking decidedly pale.

"It tried to cover its tracks," Hughes said as he replaced the blanket over the body.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," Hughes pushed his glasses back up his nose. "You only burn a corpse to try to hide the cause of death, and there are no shell casings around to indicate a normal murder."

Kain looked down at the five blankets. "Do we know who they are?"

Hughes shook his head. "They're too badly burned. The doc'll have to check their dental records."

"What story should I run?"

Hughes looked past Kain to see the camera crew ready and waiting behind him, and scratched his stubbly beard. "Drug deal gone bad, it's not too big a stretch."

Kain took a step closer to Hughes and whispered, almost casually: "I got the Rockbell watch."

Hughes' grim expression didn't change but a faint glimmer of something like excitement passed over his grey eyes. "Good."

"Chief," one of the policemen that had been searching the area came over and handed something to Hughes. "Found this in the brush about ten yards away."

Hughes looked down to see a wallet containing a driver's licence belonging to...

"Rose Thomas."

"You know her," Kain said. It wasn't a question.

"I knew her family."

"You think she's one of these?" Kain motioned to the bodies.

Hughes fixed Kain with a fatherly stare. "I hope not."

* * *

To say that Edward Elric was not in a good mood that morning was the understatement of the century. He had been pacing around the Manor most of the morning, trying to avoid all the patches of sunlight that flowed through the windows where he had forgotten to close the curtains before the sun rose. He was currently leaving his fourth voicemail message on Alphonse's phone.

"Where the hell are you, Alphonse?" he snarled, skirting round a sunbeam. "I'm trapped at the house, and I'm getting really bored and really impatient, and I don't do bored and impatient. Bring me my ring." He hung up his phone, and in doing so didn't see a sunbeam that fell through a high window and walked right through it. "Damn it!" Edward screamed in pain as his skin crackled and reddened. Recovering himself he made his way, carefully into the drawing room, where Rose was laying, semi-conscious and still bleeding, on a sofa.

"Oh, come on!" Edward moaned. "Don't get blood on the couch."

Rose giggled drunkenly, moving her pink bangs out of her eyes. "I got you good, didn't I?"

"Well, you aren't going to be any fun today," Edward sighed, before an idea came to him. "I'm so going to regret this." He bit into his wrist and held it to Rose's mouth, who recoiled for a moment before Edward pressed his wrist to her lips and she began to lick at the blood. "Drink up, drink it up," Edward encouraged her, and Rose began to suck at his wrist with more enthusiasm, holding his arm to her. "There you go," Edward grinned darkly. "That's it. Good girl, don't drip now."


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Flashbacks of a Fool

**Here you go folks, a new chapter, and better late than never! I meant to get this chapter out earlier, and it should have been a little longer, but I wanted to give any still faithful readers out there something to read and I think I've finished this chapter off at a convenient place. I'm sorry this chapter has taken so long to get out, I haven't had many chances to work on this story recently, between work and exploring the high country of New Zealand and going to Dunedin to see a rugby world cup match (England v Romania, and I'm happy to report England won). So anyway at last we have some explanations, and an introduction of a new character, one Winry Pierce, the little hell-bitch. She'll be causing trouble for all of our favourite TFMVD characters from now on and boy will she enjoy it. I hope I haven't done a terrible job with the flashbacks, I've tried to explain them within the story rather than putting obvious bits like "flashback to 1864" in. If you think its too confusing or I haven't made a very good job of it, or if you think In have handled the flashbacks well please do review, reviews make my day, and when I get to 20 reviews, vampire Ed, vampire Al, Winry and I will give you a special treat! ;)**

Chapter Seventeen

Flashbacks of a Fool

The summer of 1864 didn't seem to want to end; it was already mid-September yet the heat refused to dissipate to the cooler autumn temperatures that were more usual at this time of year. It was what the people of Risembool called an Indian summer. Despite the heat Alphonse Elric was wearing his very best suit; his dark blonde hair trimmed and combed in the latest style. Alphonse was enduring the stifling heat in his best finery because he was to greet an important guest on behalf of his father, the esteemed alchemist Hohenheim Elric, who was out of town for a few days on business. Usually his elder brother Edward would have been responsible for greeting guests but he too was away from home; he was, reluctantly, helping quell a rebellion in Ishval, fighting for the Amestrian military as the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Though he didn't show it, his calm and proud appearance giving the very image of the perfect younger son of a wealthy Amestrian family, Alphonse was incredibly nervous. This was the first occasion where he had had to greet a guest of the family and he didn't want to let his father down by giving this guest a bad first impression of the well-respected Elric family; if he did his father would never forgive him, and Edward would mock him about it for years to come. But it was not only the worry of family integrity that was making him break out in a sweat (although he put this down to the heat); the guest he was to greet was a young woman about his own age. Alphonse was not the most confident young man around women, he didn't have much to talk about other than alchemy, which either bored or confused any girls he courted, and he in turn was either bored or confused by their conversations of fashion, parties and gossip. He had heard rumours about this girl; some said she was a greatly intelligent and well spoken girl, and if she were a man she would have been a politician or diplomat. Others said she was the very model of a 19th Century girl; polite, reserved and agreeable. But everyone agreed that she was the most beautiful socialite of the time, which made Alphonse all the more nervous. He wasn't entirely sure why this girl was visiting them; his father had mumbled something about her needing to visit the town and he owing the family a favour so she was staying with them rather than a hotel. This arrangement had especially excited Alphonse's mother, who with two young, eligible bachelor sons was convinced that this girl would take a shine to one of them, she felt that at nineteen and eighteen both Edward and Alphonse were too old to be unmarried. Their father felt much the same, though it was more because it meant they would have to move out and set up their own households.

Alphonse took out a handkerchief and wiped his brow, and as he replaced it in his coat pocket he heard the sound of horses' hooves. He checked his pocket watch and saw that his guest was right on time; punctuality was also one of her merits it seemed. He took a nervous deep breath as the carriage made its way towards the Manor. The carriage driver slowed the horses to a halt before the front door, then deftly jumped down from his high seat and opened the carriage door, from which a dark-skinned and rather plain looking girl emerged. Alphonse assumed she was a maid as she held out her hand to assist the other occupant of the carriage down. He walked down the front steps to formally greet his guest, and as she emerged from the carriage door and turned to face him Alphonse's heart skipped a beat.

She was the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on, and for a moment he just stared at her, before he remembered his manners and bowed to his guest.

"You must be Miss Pierce," he breathed as he took her proffered hand and kissed it.

"Please," she said in a demure voice, her striking blue eyes, one framed by a blonde curl, looking straight into Alphonse's. "Call me Winry."

* * *

"Remind me again why we're out in the middle of nowhere?" Winry rather tetchily asked Alphonse as they walked across a harvested wheat-field to a small copse. They had driven out of town towards Alphonse's house, but Alphonse had directed her down a side road that took them to the field they were currently tramping across, which looked up to the manor house in the distance. Winry was not impressed that Alphonse had to take her out into the countryside to explain things to her.

"You said you wanted to know everything," Alphonse began wearily, as one does when about to tell a very long story. "So I'm starting at the beginning, I want to show you something first."

They continued on in silence, Alphonse leading Winry into the trees and stopping beside two weathered looking brick plinths with Xerxean urns atop them. One was considerably more flamboyant and Gothic in style than the other which was quite plain but perfectly formed, but both looked completely out of place in the woods with nothing to suggest why they were there. Winry simply looked at Alphonse, waiting for his explanation to begin.

"_Alphonse had better make this good_," Winry thought, "_dragging me out into the back end of beyond, or he'll feel my wrench around his head_."

"Take a look at the inscriptions on the plinths," Alphonse said quietly. Winry bent down to look at the plaques; they were quite hard to read, being quite weathered and worn, but she could just make out on the gaudier plinth, "Edward Elric, age 10." Winry gulped before reading the inscription on the plain urn, "Alphonse Elric, age 9."

Alphonse spoke before Winry could release the flood of questions that wanted to tumble from her mouth. "Edward and I made these when we were children, when we were alchemists."

"These are really old," Winry indicated the urns. "How long have you..."

Alphonse said simply: "I've been 18 years old since 1864."

"Oh my god..."

"You said you wanted to know," Alphonse shrugged. "I'm not going to hold anything back."

"Wait a minute; you said _when_ you and Edward were alchemists. But you said at the party that you couldn't practice alchemy. Can Edward?"

Alphonse shook his head. "No. Neither of us can practice alchemy any more. We were both proficient and talented alchemists; our mother often said we took after our father. That was the only thing she ever said that annoyed Edward. He loved her dearly, but he hated our father and didn't want to think he was anything like him. Edward was such a talented alchemist he didn't even need transmutation circles to practice alchemy; he only had to clap his hands together. I don't know how he did it, and he'd never teach me how to do it, but not long after he learnt that he joined the military and became a State Alchemist. The Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Edward was the Fullmetal Alchemist?" Winry stared at Alphonse in disbelief. "He's like a legend in military history! His real name was lost somehow, and the Fullmetal Alchemist became almost a mythical figure, a great hero of the Ishvalan War."

"I'm not sure that was quite the effect Edward was going for," Alphonse chuckled. "He just simply wanted himself erased from history. I suppose it half worked if no one knows who he really was."

"So why can't either of you practice alchemy now?" Winry asked again.

"The vampirism cancels it out," Alphonse shrugged. "We'd be too powerful if we could still use alchemy I suppose."

"I suppose," Winry said quietly while Alphonse stared sorrowfully at the urns. After a time he spoke again.

"When we were children Edward and I used to play out here all the time, it was the one place we could escape our father and practice our alchemy freely. Edward and I made these a year after we began studying alchemy to test how much we'd learned. Edward obviously thought he was better making that ostentatious thing, but he would never say so." Alphonse sighed forlornly. "Back in those days the Elric brothers were the best of friends."

* * *

Though the summer had lingered on for as long as it could the autumn of 1864 had most definitely arrived in Risembool; red, gold and yellow leaves clung valiantly to the branches they had lived on since spring, whilst their fallen companions were blown across the lawns of Elric Manor. Two young men were running across the lawn to the back of the manor by the ornamental garden; both wore quite plain but expensive shirts and trousers, one with long golden hair tied in a loose ponytail was a shade taller than the other, and he was trying very hard to keep his younger brother from taking the oval ball he held.

"Edward, wait!" called Alphonse as he tried to keep up with his brother, who was dodging all around the lawn. "Where did you learn this game?"

Edward Elric had just arrived home from Ishval, and knowing how fond Alphonse was of sports, had immediately shown him a new game he had learned while away.

"Camp outside Youswell," Edward answered as he stopped to contemplate his next move. "One of the enlisted men picked it up at Central, rugby they called it. Catch!" Edward threw the ball right at Alphonse, who caught it deftly, before he was knocked off his feet as Edward tackled him to the ground.

"Wait a minute! Wait!" cried Alphonse as Edward tried, unsuccessfully, to wrestle the ball back. "What are the rules?"

"Who needs rules?" a voice like honey floated across the lawn to the two young men who lay sprawled on the ground. Winry Pierce walked gracefully up to the brothers; she wore a richly embroidered dress that mimicked the autumn colours around her, yet she was more beautiful than any display Mother Nature could create. Her blonde hair was curled and tied up into a bun, kept in place by a sun hat that she really did not need at this time of year. Edward looked up at the angelic vision before him; so this was the girl who Alphonse had written to him about, excitedly describing his first formal greeting for the family. He was sorry he had been away and had not been able to greet her himself; she was the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes upon. She reached the boys, who were both gazing at her spellbound, and helped them both to their feet. "Mind if I join you?"

"Uh, well, you could, uh..." Alphonse stammered as Winry smiled innocently at him. "You could get hurt. My brother likes to play rough, as you saw."

Winry came in close to Alphonse, who gulped nervously (he had never had a girl stand this close to him before) and taking the ball from his unresisting grip she whispered: "Somehow I think that you play rougher." She winked at him, and Alphonse could only stare as she ran off with the ball, one hand holding her hat in place and laughing as she went.

"Why are you just standing there?" Edward asked his brother in disbelief, and there seemed to be a hint of jealousy in his voice. "That is a girl who clearly wants to be chased!"

Alphonse was still trying to gather his wits; Winry's close attentions had left him temporarily devoid of his normal faculties. Edward, however, wasn't going to hang around so long. He could not believe that Alphonse had been living in the same house as this glorious vision of a girl for almost a month and had not made any formal effort to court her. Edward Elric was not one to let a pretty girl pass by.

"If you won't chase her, I will." Edward set off after Winry, and this soon revived Alphonse. Winry was one prize he wasn't willing to give up for his brother.

* * *

In the present, Winry was trying to take in what Alphonse told her. "You knew Winry in 1864? Edward made it seem like..." she trailed off.

"Edward was trying to make you think that I was still heartbroken, that I was only just getting over Winry..."

"Al, this whole Winry thing is getting a bit confusing. And weird. Can't you call her something else?"

Alphonse looked slightly annoyed at being interrupted, but he saw Winry's point.

"I'll use her full name from now on then. Anyway, Edward saw that I was happy with you, and he wanted to ruin it."

Winry looked sceptical. No one could hold a grudge for that long over such a trivial thing, surely? "Just because you were both in love with the same girl 145 years ago?"

Alphonse chuckled despondently. "She wasn't just any girl."

* * *

Winry Pierce was running through the ornamental gardens of the Elric Manor, her breath misting in the chilly early winter air. She was being chased by Alphonse, who had had time over the autumn to get to grips with the idea of chasing games, as Winry Pierce liked to play them a lot. She triumphantly reached the front steps of the Elric Manor, the agreed finishing line, and turned to face Alphonse, who though he was the faster runner, always let her win just to see her beaming smile that enchanted him so much.

"I win! What's my prize?" she asked as Alphonse approached her.

"What would you like it to be?" A silken voice that Alphonse did not want to hear at that moment came from along the path. Edward stood looking resplendent dressed in his blue military uniform, his hat tucked under his arm and medals gleaming on his chest; he was due to return to the Ishvalan front and had left that morning to catch the train. It seemed however, that he had missed it. His mother Trisha would be pleased; she hated Edward being in the military, terrified that she would lose her beloved eldest son to war.

"They extended your leave?" Alphonse asked, halfway between happy surprise and annoyance. He had been looking forward to spending some time alone with Winry without his brother to outshine him. It was the first time in his life he had been jealous of Edward; he had even been glad when Edward had set off that morning.

Edward smiled, not sensing the change in his brother's demeanour. "I was simply having too much fun here to return to battle," he said as he approached Alphonse and Winry, who was beaming at him.

"Your commitment to the military is inspiring, Major Elric," Alphonse joked.

"Well, this works out wonderfully for me," Winry Pierce said as she happily clapped her gloved hands together.

"How's that, Miss Winry?" asked Edward.

"I'll still have both of you here to keep me entertained," she looked seriously between the brothers. "First and foremost, I'll need someone to escort me to the Founder's Ball."

"It would be my pleasure."

"I would be honoured."

Edward and Alphonse spoke at the same time, before looking at each other for the first time ever with genuine malevolence for the other. It seemed that Winry Pierce had driven a wedge between the previously inseparable brothers. She simply giggled in the childish way that both brothers loved.

"The smart and kind Elric brothers coming to my rescue. How will I ever choose?"

* * *

"She chose me," Alphonse said, with the faintest hint of triumph in his voice. "I escorted her to the ball at the Bradley Mansion."

"The first Founder's Ball, where you and Edward signed the registry." Realisation suddenly dawned on Winry.

Alphonse nodded to confirm her thoughts. "I didn't care that I'd gotten something that my brother wanted, I didn't even care if it hurt him. All I knew was that I wanted her."

"So he was upset." Winry had somewhat stated the obvious.

Alphonse chuckled darkly. "That's the thing about Edward; he doesn't get mad, he just gets even. What Edward wants, Edward usually gets. I didn't know it at the time but... It turns out that night, Winry Pierce was with him too."

"So Edward stole her from you, not the other way around?"

"It turned out she wasn't ours to steal."

* * *

Moonlight shone through the windows of Winry Pierce's bedroom, bathing the two lovers in silver light. They lay entangled upon Winry's four-poster bed, white silk sheets gliding over their skin like air, kissing passionately.

"I will love you forever," Alphonse breathed as he surfaced from kissing Winry's neck, which always seemed to drive the girl wild.

Winry looked Alphonse in the eyes. "Forever is a very long time, you know," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice that Alphonse did not pick up on.

Alphonse shook his head. "It would still not be enough time to love you."

This seemed to amuse Winry, as she chuckled before she set about kissing Alphonse's neck, and though at first he enjoyed this, it began to seem that she was _biting_ his neck rather than softly kissing him.

"Winry..." he gasped, half in pleasure, half in pain. Winry Pierce looked at him again, but her face was no longer the face of the pretty girl he adored; it now held a terrible beauty, her eyes were dark with a predatory hunger, and lined with veins that were not there before, and her teeth! Her lips were pulled back, almost in a snarl and her canines seemed to have grown into fangs. Alphonse tried to cry out, but found fear had stolen his voice, and when he tried to escape from the monster before him, Winry simply held him and, with a strength he did not recall her having before, threw him back down onto the bed. She growled hungrily, a low, animal noise that seemed to come from deep in her throat, and ignoring Alphonse's feeble attempts to escape her, sank her fangs into his neck. Fear still silenced Alphonse, but he soon found the fear seeping away from him, along with consciousness, as Winry Pierce drank away his blood.

The next morning Alphonse was woken by the sunlight that fell upon his face through the open window. He remembered what had happened the night before, and hoping it had been some terrible nightmare, his hand went instinctively to his neck. It came away damp with his own blood. He shuddered, and saw the crimson stained sheets, the pillows wet with blood where he had slept. The bed was empty; perhaps Winry had gone down for breakfast already and he could make his escape, but then he looked up and saw Winry Pierce was being helped into her corset by her dark-skinned maid.

"Good morning," she said cheerily, noticing he was awake before addressing the maid. "Leave us, please, Emily."

The maid finished tightening the corset strings, curtseyed to her mistress and silently left the room. Winry turned to face Alphonse. "You're upset," she said. It wasn't a question.

"Your face," Alphonse muttered, confused. "It was like a demon."

"But you're not afraid." Winry walked over to Alphonse, sitting next to him on the bed.

"Get away from me. Get away..." Alphonse weakly tried to move away from her, but he found himself captivated by her turquoise blue eyes.

"It doesn't change the way you feel about me, Alphonse." Winry spoke soothingly, but forcefully, and she looked deep into Alphonse's toffee coloured eyes. His fear of her immediately left him, and he could do nothing but stare into her hypnotic eyes. "You will not tell anyone."

"I... I..." Alphonse began, but Winry hushed him, placing a soft finger on his lips.

"We will go on exactly as we have."

Alphonse suddenly felt a strong desire to follow Winry's wishes; he wanted to please her, he felt compelled to do anything she commanded of him. "Yes. We will go on," he answered her in a mechanical voice, almost as though the thoughts were not his own. Winry Pierce smiled. Her plan was coming together.

"You have no idea of the future I have planned for us, Alphonse." She stroked his cheek tenderly and smiled at him, while he could do nothing but stare helplessly at her, completely caught in her web. "You, me and Edward. No rules."

* * *

The sun had gotten lower in the sky; the light that shone through the trees making the Elric brother's urns cast long shadows over Alphonse and Winry, who shivered, not just from the cooling air but also from Alphonse's story.

"Winry Pierce could control my mind, and Edward's," Alphonse said after a long pause. "She compelled each of us to keep the secret from the other. She wanted us to be together forever. It didn't work out the way she intended however, and now it looks like Edward and I are stuck with each other. Like it or not." Alphonse took something small and silver from his pocket.

Winry noticed the object. "Is that Edward's ring?"

Alphonse nodded. "I took it from him, but I have to give it back."

"What?" Winry was appalled at Alphonse's thinking. "Why, Alphonse? You should keep it hidden and keep Elicia, and everyone else, safe from him!"

"Winry, if I don't give it to him Edward will retaliate in the only way that he knows he can hurt me."

"And how is that?" Winry crossed her arms in anger at him; he was a vampire too, surely Edward couldn't hurt him that much even if Alphonse wasn't as strong as him.

Alphonse answered her simply. "By hurting you."

Winry felt foolish. She knew Alphonse cared deeply for her and she should have realised that Edward was malicious enough to hurt her just to get at his brother. She looked down at her feet sheepishly. After a while she said: "The mind control that you said Winry Pierce used. Do you... do you ever do that to me?"

"No. The necklace I gave you contains an herb called vervain; it protects you from being compelled. I wanted to protect you from Edward's influence, but I also wanted to... protect you from me. You should never take that necklace off, because no matter what happens after today, no matter how you feel about me, you'll know that you were free to make your own choice."

Winry looked at Alphonse, and she could see there were no lies in his eyes. He had been honest with her and everything he had told her was the truth, even if she hadn't wanted to hear it. Perhaps, in time, she could forgive him for the lies he had told her, but for now she was grateful just to know the truth, and to know that she was free to make up her own mind with the information he had given her.

She had hardened her heart towards him in the last day, but now she felt it softening again.

* * *

Music blasted out of every stereo at the Elric Manor; as Edward had very little else to do while waiting for the sun to go down he had turned up the radio and broken out the alcohol. He was drinking straight from a bottle of bourbon while dancing down the hallway, careful to avoid any patches of sunlight, when Rose came down the stairs drying her brown and pink hair with a towel.

"Oh man, that shower was just what I needed," she said to herself. Edward grabbed her when she reached the foot of the stairs and pulled her into a dance, the towel falling forgotten to the floor. Rose's memory was hazy; the last thing she remembered for sure was going to change the CD in Jared's car at the cemetery, but after that everything was a blur. She vaguely remembered a blond figure, which could be Edward, and the taste of blood, but she didn't recall hurting herself, then realised that Edward had given her something, some kind of drug or medicine, not long after arriving at the Manor. She took the bottle of alcohol from Edward and threw it back like a seasoned drinker, before she asked Edward one of the burning questions on her mind.

"What did you give me?"

"Some blood. You loved it." Edward smiled darkly at her.

"I did?" Rose felt very unsettled. Why would she enjoy drinking blood? "Wait a minute, I'm confused. How did we get here?"

"We were in the woods. You were drunk, I attacked you. Then I killed all of your friends and brought you here, I gave you some blood and you loved it." Edward said all this as if it was an everyday occurrence for him, but he could see Rose looking uneasy so he compelled her to stay; he didn't want to wait all day for dusk without someone to play with. "And now we're going to party until the sun goes down."

"OK," Rose said without thinking, before asking uncertainly, "Um, first, can I have another hit? That blood was so good."

Edward grinned wickedly. "Only if I can." He bit his wrist and offered it to Rose, who drank the dark blood with enthusiasm, as he took her wrist and began to drink, the pair locked in a macabre embrace. After a while they let go of each other and returned to drinking the bottle of bourbon and dancing. The alcohol lowered Rose's inhibitions and she told Edward all her troubles and woes, though Edward was not really listening to her.

"I am so over Selim, so over him," she slurred, knocking back another shot of bourbon. "I knew from the beginning that I was just some girl to take to bed to him, but I thought maybe if he got to know me better, he might see something more. But no. Now, Ling, on the other hand, that's all he's ever seen in me is something more, and I like that."

"Ling, huh?" Edward raised an eyebrow, his interest suddenly peaked. "Winry's brother?"

Rose nodded. "He's had a thing for me for as long as I can remember. Hey, how come you don't have a girlfriend? You're really cool and so hot."

"I know," Edward said as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Don't you want to be in love?" Rose asked after a pause.

"I've been in love," Edward said, with a hint of anger in the back of his voice, but there was regret there also. "It's painful and pointless and overrated. Except when it isn't. Now shut up and let's dance."

Rose either didn't hear him or decided to ignore him, as she went into another rant about her life. **"**My mom died six years ago and I didn't have any relatives to look after me so I ended up living by myself, although Russell Tringham often checked up on me. He kind of became a substitute big brother. I don't remember my dad, but from what I gather, he's not worth remembering."

"Your life is so pathetic." Edward was getting bored of this girl now, but he was beginning to form an idea that could make this situation more fun.

"Yeah," Rose agreed. "I mean my life if just so screwed up. When I think of my future I just come up blank."

Edward put a comforting hand on her cheek. "You are so damaged."

"Yep." Rose's voice broke as unshed tears threatened to fall.

"I mean, you don't have one hint of self-esteem." Edward's hand crept round behind Rose's hair and he began to stroke the back of her neck.

"Nope, none."

Edward said quietly: "I think I know what can help you."

A single tear ran down Rose's cheek as she looked at Edward, hope shining in her eyes. "What's that?"

Edward smiled at her. "Death."

In a swift, single movement, Edward snapped Rose's neck, and she fell like a rag doll to the floor. Edward barely even glanced at the girl as he picked up the bottle of bourbon that Rose still held in her lifeless hand. He took a swig and continued dancing by himself, neither thinking nor caring of the girl whose life he had just ended.


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Changes

**Hi everyone, yes myself and this story are still alive! I'm not going to make excuses for how long it has taken me to get this chapter done, but I am going to apologise profusely and hope you all find it in your hearts to forgive me. Hopefully this chapter makes up for my tardiness and fingers crossed I'll get the next chapter out fairly quickly too. But, as I'm sure you're all eager to do so, I'll leave you now to read chapter 18 of The Fullmetal Vampire Diaries.**

Chapter Eighteen

Changes

Consciousness slammed into Rose like a train. She groaned with pain; her neck ached and her head throbbed, her shoulders and head were sore from when she hit the hard wooden floor, and the late afternoon sunlight flooding into the hallway hurt her eyes. She'd had some bad hangovers before but this was something else. It was at this moment that Edward came sauntering into the hall from the kitchen, a fresh bottle of bourbon in his hand. He looked down at her with emotionless eyes, staying in the lengthening shadows.

"What happened?" Rose asked him groggily, rubbing her sore head.

Edward replied calmly, "We were dancing, and then... I killed you."

"What?" Rose asked confused, getting unsteadily to her feet.

"You're dead." Edward said it as if it were obvious.

"I'm dead?"

"Yeah, but let's not make a big deal out of it." Edward took a swig of bourbon and continued as if he were filling in a friend on a part of a football game they'd missed. "You drank my blood, I killed you, and now you have to feed in order to complete the process."

Rose looked at him sceptically and began to walk away towards the front door but Edward called after her. "You're wasted; you don't want to be out there all alone. You're about to get really freaky."

"OK, whatever, Edward," Rose waved him off. "I had a really great time and all, but now I just want to go home and nurse this bastard hangover."

Edward blocked her exit. "It's no hangover. You're going to start craving blood soon, and until you get it, you're going to feel _very _out of it. You have to be careful."

"Get out of my way, Edward."

"See? You're already starting to fall apart."

"And I'm going home now." Rose pushed him out of her path.

"OK, fine." Edward held his hands up in mock defeat as an idea occurred to him. "Actually, you know what? You should go. In fact, if I were you, I'd stop by your boyfriend Ling's house. Just a suggestion."

"Yeah, whatever," Rose went out the front door, shielding her eyes against the sun and feeling its heat even though it should have been a chilly autumn day.

"Bye," Edward called out after her. "Tell Winry I said hi, and if you see Alphonse, tell him to call me."

Rose ignored him, and slammed the door on him. She just wanted to get home, out of the wretched sun and away from the unusually loud noises that were making her headache worse, and knock back a few aspirins. However Rose Thomas was a long way from being able to be cured by a simple aspirin.

* * *

Mayor Bradley was sitting at his expensive, inherited oak desk in his home office, gently massaging his forehead above his eye patch where a headache was beginning to make itself known. He had been busy with paperwork all day, putting him in a bad mood; and now Sheriff Hughes had called around to update him on the vampire situation, which didn't help to ease his emerging headache.

"We're working on the burn bodies now," Hughes said solemnly as Bradley reached into his desk drawer for an aspirin.

"Did the doctor manage to identify the bodies?" Bradley asked.

"A few townies," Hughes shrugged. "Notorious druggies."

"Hmm, I suppose that will make it easier for people to buy the drug deal gone bad story." Bradley fixed Hughes with his good eye. "And Rose Thomas?"

Hughes shook his head. "She's not one of the deceased."

"Then where the hell is she?"

"I wish I knew; your guess is as good as mine, Mayor."

Just then there was a knock at the door and without waiting for an answer in strode Kain Fuery, a triumphant look upon his face.

"Sorry I'm late gentlemen," he said casually, as if they were simply meeting for drinks.

"You have the watch?" Mayor Bradley asked anxiously rising from his leather chair.

Kain nodded; pulling the silver pocket watch from inside his jacket he handed it to Mayor Bradley, who in turn took a small screwdriver from his pocket and proceeded to prod at the watch.

"It's ready." Bradley handed the watch back to Kain.

"That's it?" Kain asked dubiously. He looked at the watch and saw that its face no longer told the time; it was instead a compass whose needle floated aimlessly about its face. Clearly this was not a compass for finding north.

"Yes, that's it."

Kain nodded, and he and Sheriff Hughes left Mayor Bradley to continue with his more traditional mayoral duties. They talked quietly as they walked out of the Bradley mansion and headed for Sheriff Hughes' car, where he opened the boot to reveal a vertiable smorgasbord of vampire slaying implements.

"I've got Stanley posted on the Moore Street entrance," Hughes spoke as if they were organising a simple security event rather than a potential vampire slaying. "The rest of us will cover the other access points. Call him, or better yet call me, if that thing gives you a reading. _Don't_ use the radio. Mobiles only."

"Got it," Kain nodded as Hughes handed him a rather ordinary looking gun.

"You've eight rounds in there. Remember, wooden bullets won't kill it, but they'll wound it enough for you to get close and stake it." Hughes looked at Kain a little uncertainly. "You sure you can handle this, Fuery?"

"Of course I can."

"You ever staked a vampire before?"

Kain looked over his glasses at Hughes. "Have you?"

* * *

"Coming!" Ling called as he went to answer the person who was furiously ringing his front door bell. He opened the door to reveal Rose standing there looking as though she was suffering from the world's worst hangover, holding her head and wearing dark glasses to shield her eyes.

"Finally," she said grumpily as she barged past Ling into the hallway. "The sun is killing me today, it feels like my eyes are on fire."

"Where the hell have you been Rose? Everyone's been worried sick!" Ling caught up with her as she flopped down onto a sofa.

"I'm fine, Ling. Everything's fine."

Ling knelt down beside her. "Did something happen to you?"

"I'm hungry," Rose said abruptly, bursting from the sofa and into the kitchen. "What have you got to eat?"

"Rose, you're high?" Ling asked with disbelief. "It's the middle of the day!"

"Seriously, Ling, could you not talk so loudly? My head _really_ hurts. I need quiet."

Ling stared at Rose in astonishment. Leaving her to her assault on the contents of his fridge he went to call for help, he couldn't deal with this on his own.

It didn't take Russell long to get to Ling's house; as soon as he heard Ling's worried voice mention Rose's name he came straight over; luckily he didn't have work that day. He didn't know why he kept assuming responsibility for Rose, but Ling was clearly unsure of what to do and no one else was going to help the girl so yet again he took charge.

"Where is she?" Russell asked as he entered the house, shocked by the worry and confusion written in Ling's features.

"I'll show you." Ling led Russell towards the kitchen.

Russell asked "What's she on?" He knew Rose well enough to assume that there was some kind of drug involved.

Ling didn't look at him as he answered quietly, "I don't know."

The pair entered the kitchen and saw that Rose had abandoned her attack on the fridge and was curled up in the corner, hugging her legs to her as she rested her head on her knees. Russell went over to Rose, hearing the small sobs she was trying to hold back; he knelt beside her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Rose started at his touch, but looked relieved to see his familiar silver eyes.

"Hey, Rose," he said gently, giving her a comforting smile. "How are you feeling?" _Stupid question_, he thought to himself.

Rose shook her head, her pink bangs covering her eyes. "Not good, Russ. I hurt."

"OK, can you tell me where it hurts?" Russell continued talking to her in that quiet, comforting voice while Ling looked on with concern, though he was trying not to show his worry.

"My gums," Rose put a hand to her mouth. "My jaw hurts. It's like there's something in my gums, and it _hurts_."

Russell put his arm around Rose in order to help her up. He didn't know what the hell was wrong with her and he had to get her to a doctor. "OK, well let's just get you up..." he began, but Rose pushed him off, surprising him with her strength.

"No!" she protested. "Just leave me alone!"

"Come on, Rose, don't be like that. Let's just get you home..."

"Just turn it off!" Rose suddenly shouted, covering her ears as if she were standing next to a fighter jet taking off. Russell looked at her with real concern; whatever she had taken was giving her one hell of a trip and they needed to get it out of her system.

"Turn what off?" Ling broke the silence that seemed to deafen them.

"The talking, the chatter, just turn it off!" Rose moaned, holding her head and gesturing towards the television in the next room which was barely audible, turned on purely for background noise. But now Rose had brought it to their attention, Russell and Ling could hear it clear as day, and went to turn it off for her. They were stopped in their tracks, however, by what Kain Fuery was reporting; he seemed to be standing in a park of some sorts, with police officers working behind him.

"_...horribly. Three bodies were found earlier today in what is believed to be a drug deal gone awry. The bodies have yet to be identified. They were discovered early this morning by a dog walker at the old Risembool cemetery."_

Ling gasped in shock, turning to Russell. "That's where we were last night."

Russell looked back at Rose, his voice deadly serious. "All right, Rose, what happened last night?"

Rose shook her head and sobbed, as if she were remembering something she's rather forget. Kain's voice brought Russell and Ling's attention back to the television.

"_...homicide, and their investigation is already under way as they search for suspects. Sheriff Hughes is asking anyone that may have any information to call..."_

Russell turned off the television and took out his mobile phone. "That's it, I'm calling the cops."

"No!" Rose cried, panicked. Russell stopped dialling and looked at her questioningly. She stood up and looked back at him with pleading eyes, begging. "Don't, Russell!"

Ling went over to her, speaking quietly hoping it would calm her down. "What happened after I left you last night, Rose?"

What happened next caught all three by surprise. Rose pushed Ling out of the way so she could run past him to escape from the boy's questioning; but instead of just knocking him out of her path Ling flew across the kitchen to land hard and painfully against the oven. Rose cried out in shock and guilt, before falling to the floor, tears streaming from her face. Russell stared at her for a moment, not daring to admit to himself he was slightly scared of her. before remembering Ling and going over to see if he was hurt.

"Ling, are you OK?" he asked as he helped Ling to feet.

"I'm fine," Ling coughed, leaning on Russell. "Just winded."

Russell looked at Rose, still crying on the floor. "Damn, Rose. What were you..." he began, but was interrupted as Winry and Alphonse entered the kitchen rather hurriedly.

"What's going on?" Winry asked, trying to take in the scene before her; Rose crying in a foetal position on the kitchen floor, while her brother leaned on Russell, looking slightly worse for wear.

"She's really messed up," Russell answered, indicating Rose. Winry went to speak to Rose, but she was pulled back by Alphonse.

"Winry, back up," he said quietly. She turned to him, about to scold him until she saw the deathly serious look in his eyes and let him take control of the situation. He knelt down before Rose and gently pushed her bangs out of her eyes, holding her face so that she had to look up at him.

"Rose, look at me. Look at me. You're going to be fine. Everything's going to be fine." Alphonse spoke confidently, more so than Russell thought he should. How could he have any more idea of what was happening with Rose than any of them? He watched as Alphonse gently helped her to her feet.

"Russell, Ling, could you take her up to bed? Shut the blinds in the room. She'll be OK."

The boys nodded and together they helped walk Rose out of the room and upstairs to the guest room.

"You know what's wrong with her?" Winry asked as Alphonse listened to Russell and Ling pulling curtains closed upstairs.

"Yeah," Alphonse answered her in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

"Well?"

Alphonse looked at Winry sadly. "Rose is transitioning."

"Transitioning to what?" Winry asked, despite the horrible feeling in her stomach that told her she already knew the answer.

"A vampire."

Winry gasped involuntarily. "Oh god."

"Edward must have gotten to her." Alphonse silently cursed his brother. "She's new, she hasn't completed her transformation yet."

"What do you mean, Al?"

"She has to feed on human blood in order to complete the transition."

"What if she doesn't... feed?" Winry could hardly bring herself to say it.

"She'll die," Alphonse said simply, ignoring the look of horror that came upon Winry's face. "She may only have a few hours left."

"And you told my brother and my best friend to take her upstairs?" Winry cried angrily.

"It's OK," Alphonse tried to calm her, though it didn't have much effect. "She doesn't know what's happening to her yet."

"So when is she going to know? After she's ripped their throats out and drained their blood?"

Alphonse would never know how close he was to being given a concussion courtesy of Winry's wrench at that moment. Luckily his next words saved him.

"Right now she doesn't remember anything. A part of her is still human, but slowly, the deeper she gets into the transition, the memories will begin to come back, and then she'll know she has to make the choice."

Winry fixed him with her best cold blue stare and Alphonse flinched as her words bit deep. "The same choice you made?"

Upstairs, Russell and Ling had gotten a rather obliging Rose settled into the guest bedroom, and as Russell was closing the curtains for her, she beckoned Ling closer.

"I'm sorry I'm so much trouble," she said quietly.

"Its no trouble Rose," he answered, moving her pink bangs out of her eyes. "You just need to sleep it off, OK?"

"Thanks, Ling." Rose pulled him in for a hug, but instead of being comforted by the embrace she suddenly felt her hunger explode. She began to... _smell_ Ling. And he smelt so _good_, just that scent made her feel better, maybe if she could somehow take that smell from him... it would be easy... just one bite...

"NO!" Rose screamed at her newfound instincts, pushing Ling away from her and rushing out of the room.

"Rose? Rose!" Russell called after her, before checking on Ling. Winry and Alphonse had come up to see what all the commotion was about.

"What happened?" Winry asked instinctively checking on her brother.

"She was fine..." Ling stared at nothing, not hearing the front door slam as Rose fled the house. "But then she just... she just freaked out."

Russell was the first to mobilise into action. "I'm going to go and look for her. Call me if you hear anything."

Alphonse nodded before turning to Winry, who was helping Ling to his feet, and whispered: "I can track her."

"Go," she said, her eyes not leaving Ling. This was all becoming too much for her.

* * *

Winry sat at the kitchen table staring out the window as the last light of day faded away, while Ling paced from the kitchen to the living room and back again, both of them anxiously checking their mobile phones every few minutes. This was how they had spent the day, Winry breaking the tension more than once by fixing dinner or making some tea, a cup of which now sat cold and forgotten, trapped between her entwined fingers.

"Maybe we should check in with Russell," Ling said for the fifteenth time as he entered the kitchen once more.

Winry gave him the same reply as she had the previous fourteen times. "Russell will call when he finds her."

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Ling shouted, making Winry jump at his sudden outburst. "I can't just stand around here waiting for news. I need to help her!"

Ling slumped into a chair across from Winry, and laid his head in his hands before whispering, "I don't know what's wrong with her."

Winry looked at her brother with pity. He shouldn't have to deal with this. No one should have to deal with this. She stood and went to Ling, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Rose will be fine. It will all be fine." Winry didn't know what else to say, and thought she was spared from offering any more false hope when the front doorbell rang. Both Winry and Ling rushed to answer, but Winry got there first. She immediately regretted not checking who was there as she looked upon the last person she wanted to see right now; Edward Elric. Steeling herself she took a deep breath and fixed Edward with her best death glare.

"Ling, go upstairs," Winry said, trying to keep her voice steady. "Give Russell a call and see how he's doing."

"All right, but..." Ling began to protest, but was quickly silenced as Winry turned her icy stare on him.

"Go and call Russell. Now."

Ling nodded and left the hallway, unsure why Winry wanted him out of the way so badly. Edward could have news about Rose but he knew better than to argue with Winry when she had _that_ look in her eyes.

Winry turned back to Edward, who was grinning slightly as he had not failed to notice the barely detectable hint of fear in her voice.

"You're afraid of me," he stated with a certain smugness. "I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark here and guess that Alphonse finally fessed up."

"You stay away from Ling," Winry growled. "And you stay away from me."

Edward help up his hands and looked offended. "Hey, now Winry there's no need to be rude. I'm just looking for Alphonse. May I come in? Oh, wait, of course I can. I've been invited."

Before she could protest Edward had forced Winry aside, and entered the house with a self-satisfied grin before addressing her casually as he examined a painting in the hall. "Now, we can cut right to the chase if you want, and you can stop worrying because I'm not going to kill you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda. So..." Edward turned to face Winry before continuing. "Where's Alphonse?"

"He's out looking for Rose," Winry answered simply, crossing her arms and drawing herself up to her full height, although she barely came up to Edward's eye line.

"Don't look at me with those judgey little eyes," Edward snorted. "That girl's going to thank me for what I did to her."

"Did you thank Winry Pierce?"

Winry had struck a blow, though Edward didn't flinch.

"Huh. Got the whole life story did you?"

"I got enough."

"Oh, I doubt that," Edward laughed, and turned to leave. "Tell my brother I'm looking for him. Oh, tip for later, be careful who you invite in the house."

Edward flashed his best toothy grin just to rub salt into Winry's wounds, and she slammed the door behind him as soon as he was clear of the threshold.

* * *

Sheriff Hughes was patrolling the woods at the edge of town with one of his trusted officers, both men on the alert for any movement in the darkness. They were not helped by the absence of the moon and the stars, hidden behind thick clouds, and they didn't want to risk revealing their position with torch lights. Given that they were looking for creatures of the night whose natural environment was darkness, and they could barely see a hand in front of them, Hughes and his officer were at a serious disadvantage. The officer's nerves were wearing thin, he had been starting at any noise in the dark, and when Hughes' mobile phone suddenly rang he almost jumped out of his own skin. Hughes looked at his subordinate with disappointment; clearly he was not as able to cope with covert assignments as he thought.

"Hughes," he answered the phone without looking to see who was calling.

"I think I've got something," Kain's whispering voice was tinny over the line. "It's pointing towards the old cemetery."

"Heading your way," Hughes said in acknowledgement, before ending the call. He turned to the officer, who was looking distinctly pale. "Let's go."

A young woman knelt hunched over by the remains of a bonfire, tears running silently down her face. She didn't know why she had come to the place where her friends had been killed, but it somehow seemed to help her make sense of things.

A figure stood behind her. "Rose?" Alphonse's voice ventured gently.

Rose didn't stir at Alphonse's appearance, she had heard him approach from across the cemetery. She assumed this better sense of hearing had something to do with what was happening to her.

"I'm starting to remember things," she said quietly. "What he is, what he said. I remember you."

Rose looked up at Alphonse. "The hospital... the, the rooftop... it's all coming back."

Alphonse knelt down beside Rose. "I'm so sorry. Edward had no right to do this to you."

"He said that I need to feed. What will happen if I don't?" Rose feared she already knew the answer.

"You'll fade quickly," Alphonse paused, unsure how to word his next statement. "And then it will all just be over."

"I'll be dead." Rose said flatly, before breaking into tears. Alphonse pulled her into a hug, comforting her. "I don't want this."

"I know. It'll be OK," even Alphonse felt the words were hollow. "You're going to be OK, I can help you."

"Is it better? Will I be better?"

Alphonse couldn't answer her, instead he helped Rose to her feet. "Come on, let's get you home."

Rose nodded to agreement, but the pair had barely taken a step when gunshots rent the quiet night air. Alphonse fell to the ground, crying out in pain and clutching his side.

"Alphonse!" Rose screamed, dropping to the ground beside him and staring at his bleeding stomach. A shadow fell over them and Rose looked up to see Kain Fuery aiming a gun at Alphonse's chest. Rose threw herself over Alphonse protectively, but just as Kain pulled the trigger a blonde figure smashed into him knocking him off balance, and the bullet shot off harmlessly into the cemetery. He screamed in pain as his attacker bit into his neck, eyes wide with fear. Kain was unconscious in moments; Edward dropped him unceremoniously to the ground before examining the gun. He emptied the magazine and walked over to Alphonse, who glared daggers at him.

"It's wood," he said, dropping the bullets around Alphonse's prone body. "They know. If anyone's going to kill you, Al, it's going to be me."

Edward dropped to his knees next to his brother, pulled up his sleeves and began to poke around at Alphonse's wound. Alphonse tried not to cry out, but he couldn't help himself as he felt the wooden bullet scraping against his flesh and skin as Edward pulled it out. Edward flicked the bullet away with disgust before holding his hand out. Alphonse foolishly thought Edward was offering to help him up and went to take his brother's hand.

"My ring, Al," Edward said tersely.

Alphonse grunted in annoyance. He really didn't want to return Edward's ring, but he could hardly refuse him after he'd just saved his life. Reluctantly he reached into his pocket and handed over the ring. Edward snatched it from him and hurriedly put it back upon his finger, looking at the silver piece of jewellery with glee.

A horrible thought suddenly hit Alphonse. "Where's Rose?" He stood up hurriedly, wincing as his not yet healed wound protested at the sudden movement. His heart sunk as he saw Rose, knelt over Kain's body, her face buried in his neck.

"No!" Alphonse called in despair. "Rose! No!"

Rose slowly turned around, like a child about to be scolded by a parent; her eyes shone with unshed tears and bright scarlet blood rimmed her lips and fell down her chin.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and before anyone could do anything she fled from the cemetery.

Alphonse turned and looked down at his brother, his fists clenched in anger.

Edward looked up at his brother with feigned innocence and shrugged. "Oops."

Alphonse was about to do something he would have later regretted, but Edward was saved when both brothers froze. They heard footsteps approaching; Alphonse gave Edward a final glare before they both sped off at full vampire speed in opposite directions. Moments after Edward and Alphonse disappeared Sheriff Hughes and his officer arrived at the scene, both of whom stood in shocked silence for a moment on seeing Kain's body.

"My god..." Hughes managed to whisper, before coming to his senses. He bent down next to Kain feeling, and praying, for a pulse. His subordinate began dialling for an ambulance, but Hughes took the phone from him, intending to call for help himself in a moment. A more pressing concern was on his mind.

"The watch. Find the watch."

The officer nodded and immediately began looking for the precious item.

"Hang in there Kain," Hughes muttered as he called the emergency services.

* * *

Winry sat alone in her kitchen; Ling had gone to help Russell search for Rose, unable to sit still any longer. She stared blankly out the window, a cup of tea cold and forgotten in her hands. Winry was woken from her reverie by a knock at the door, and almost knocked over her chair as she hurried to answer the door. Afraid it could be Edward again she looked through the peep-hole, but was relieved to find it was Alphonse waiting the other side. Winry opened the door to him, hoping he had good news, but she stood stunned when she saw his torn and bloody shirt.

"You're bleeding!" she cried in worry.

"No, it's OK," Alphonse said quickly to calm Winry before she could race to a wrong conclusion. "I'm OK, I was hurt but it's healed now."

"What happened?"

Alphonse hung his head. He couldn't look Winry in the eye. "I couldn't stop her. I tried."

Try as she might Winry couldn't keep the worry and apprehension from her voice. "What do you mean?"

"Rose fed, and then I lost her."

"Oh my god."

"I'll take care of it, Winry. I'll find her, and I'll show her that she can live like I do. I _will_ make sure that she doesn't hurt anybody, Winry, I promise you."

Winry took a deep breath, as though she were coming up for air. "What do we tell everyone?"

"We'll come up with a story..." Alphonse began before Winry interrupted him.

"You mean we'll come up with a lie."

"I'm so sorry." Alphonse didn't know what else to say.

There was silence between the pair for a while before Winry finally broke it.

"I gave you today just like you asked. I understand that you would never do anything to hurt me, and I promise I will keep your secret, but... I can't be with you, Alphonse. I'm sorry. I... I just can't."

Alphonse tried to protest, to stop her, to change her mind, but Winry just turned away and closed the door behind her. Leaving Alphonse standing alone on the dark porch. He stood there a while, staring at the floor in shame. He eventually turned to leave, no longer able to bear hearing Winry's heartbroken sobs through the door.

**Oh, and for all the non-Brits out there who don't know what Hughes was doing when he opened the "boot" of his car, he was opening the "trunk". Reviews muchly appreciated! Remember the reward I promised of Winry with vampire Ed and Al? Well it could still happen upon the sum of 20 reviews! Peace, love and rock and roll! :)**


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Vampire with Issues

Chapter Nineteen

Vampire with Issues 

The heavy clouds that hung low in the sky threatened rain as Selim Bradley and his rugby team-mates finished their training session and began heading for home.

"See you, guys!" Selim called as he got in his car, but before he had even put the keys in the ignition he almost jumped back out again in shock.

"Hi Selim."

Whoa, Rose?" Selim was relieved to see her, despite the fact she had almost given him a heart attack. "Where have you been? Everyone's looking for you!"

Rose looked down in shame, before murmuring"I know."

"What's wrong Rose?" Selim was concerned. She wasn't her normal chirpy self; something was clearly amiss.

"I'm so cold."

Selim put a comforting hand on her arm and almost pulled it back in his shock at how cold she really was; she felt like a corpse.

"Rose, have you taken anything? Everyone thinks you're off on a bender."

"I wish," Rose chuckled mirthlessly.

"What happened in the woods, Rose? Those kids that were killed, did you see anything?"

Rose began to cry. "I'm so scared."

"Come here." Selim pulled her into a hug. "It's okay, I'll take you home."

Rose wished he hadn't done that; her face was nestled in the crook of Selim's neck and all she could smell was the blood pumping through his veins just below his skin.

"I can't control it." Rose barely breathed.

"Control what?" Selim was alarmed at the slightly predatory tone that had come over her voice.

"I am so hungry, Selim, and it won't go away."

Like a snake, Rose ever so gently tightened her grip on Selim.

"What are you on? What drugs did you take?"

"I want it," Rose growled. "I am so hungry, Selim."

"Okay, I'll get you something to eat. Just sit back." Selim was confused now, and more than a little bit concerned for Rose's sanity. He tried to back out from Rose's grip. "Let's just get you home, okay?

But Rose had her face buried in Selim's neck, and unless he was mistaken he thought Rose was _nibbling_ at his neck.

"Rose, seriously, what is wrong with you?" Selim pushed Rose away from him and gasped in fear when he saw her face; her eyes were dark and predatory, veins lining them, her mouth open as she growled at him, fangs shining in the moonlight. Like a coiled spring, Rose was ready for the kill, but before she could strike she was dragged out of the car by a strong pair of arms. Rose cried, angry at being denied her meal, but Alphonse Elric just kept old of her and moved her away from Selim.

"What the hell's going on, Alphonse? What's wrong with her?" Selim jumped out of his car, going towards Alphonse, but he was forced back to the car by Edward.

"You. Don't talk." Edward threatened as Selim fell back into the driver's seat.

Selim was incredulous. "Screw you, who are you to tell me what to do?

Edward looked down at Selim as if daring him to take him on. "You really don't want to piss me off any more than I already am, Bradley."

"Ed, leave it," Alphonse interjected, still holding Rose back; he couldn't be sure if she wasn't still hungry enough to jump Selim.

"Oh, come on Al." Edward pulled Selim out of the car by his collar. "Seriously, who's going to miss this idiot?"

What happened next surprised everyone, and not least Selim, who on an impulse hit Edward as hard as he could in the face. Rose and Alphonse cried out, and caught off guard Edward let go of Selim, stumbled back slightly, before turning back to him vamped out and snarling in rage. Selim realised he had made a very big mistake, but could do nothing but cower in fear at the sight of Edward who grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off his feet.

Rose screamed "No, don't hurt him!"

"Ed! Don't do it!" Alphonse yelled at his brother.

For a moment no-one moved; Rose terrified for Selim, Alphonse wondering if he could move quick enough to save Selim before Edward snapped his neck, Selim gasping for breath and Edward weighing up his options. Finally Edward came to a decision, growling in defeat as he heeded his brother's advice. He lowered Selim back to the ground, lessening his grip on the boy and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Forget what you saw here tonight," he said commandingly. "None of us were here."

And with that the three vampires vanished from the car park, leaving Selim feeling dazed and rubbing his throat, wondering why it felt so sore.

* * *

Bright morning sunlight shone through the window, waking Winry from her dreams where she and Alphonse were happy, he was not a vampire and Edward did not exist. Reluctantly returning to reality she rolled remarkably gracefully out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom, walking in on Ling as he tied his black hair into a ponytail. Winry had always wondered why he kept his hair long in a typically Xingese style, but she had never had dared ask him.

"Sorry, Ling! I'll let you finish." Winry immediately turned to leave, thankful she hadn't walked in on anything worse.

"No worries, Win, I'm done." Ling smiled at her as he passed and motioned back to the bathroom. "All yours."

Winry narrowed her eyes at her adopted brother in suspicion. Ling was a cheerful guy but he was most certainly _not_ a morning person.

"You're up unusually early, Ling. Where are you going?"

"Police station. They're organising a search party for Rose so I thought I'd go and help."

"Don't you have work today?"

"I called in sick, I got plenty of days off due to me. They'll need all the help they can get..."

"You shouldn't pull sickies like that," Winry told her brother disapprovingly. "If Rose is found, we'll know. That's what mobile phones are for."

"I wasn't asking for your permission Winry," Ling answered her angrily. "I'm a grown man, I can do what I want, and I want to find Rose."

Ling practically leapt downstairs, leaving Winry standing on the landing feeling guilty and wishing she could tell him the truth. From the bathroom Winry heard Ling roar off on his motorbike and her stomach automatically twisted in worry. No matter how well she knew that Ling was a competent rider and wouldn't do anything to endanger himself or anyone else she always felt a knot of fear form when she heard him ride off. She knew he was a safe biker, even when he was in a foul mood with her, it was the all the other idiots on the road that worried her.

* * *

Rose sat on the main stairs at Elric Manor, looking down at her mobile phone. On the screen was Russell's phone number, and her thumb hovered over the call button. She knew she had to call him, let someone know she was OK (well, as OK as someone can be having just transitioned into a vampire) but she dreaded hearing the worry and concern in his voice. She didn't feel like she deserved it. Taking a deep breath she let her thumb fall and held the phone to her ear. After a few dial tones she heard a strained and familiar voice.

"Hello?" Russell answered formally because she had withheld her number.

Rose spoke sheepishly. "Hey, Russell."

"Rose!" The relief in his voice was easy to hear and Rose felt even more guilty for making him worry. "Rose, where are you? Are you OK?"

"Yeah, Russell, I'm... I'm fine."

"Tell me where you are and I'll come to get you."

"No! Russell, please just listen to me. I need some time to figure some things out. I just needed to let you know that I'm fine, and that you don't have to worry about me. Knowing you, you'll set up a search party or something, so I thought I'd better call you so everyone doesn't waste their time looking for me. I'll call you later when I've got my head sorted."

Without giving Russell a chance to answer her or ask her more questions she hung up, and wiped away a tear that was making its way down her cheek. Composing herself, she stood up and made her way into the main sitting room, carefully avoiding any stray beams of sunlight, where Edward and Alphonse were sitting as far away from each other as it was possible to get. Edward didn't even notice Rose enter the room; his nose was buried in the local newspaper and his mind was elsewhere. Alphonse, however, looked up at her as soon as she entered, his toffee eyes silently questioning her. It had been he who had told her she had to call someone and let them she was safe. He didn't want any unexpected visitors at the Manor for a while.

Rose nodded to Alphonse in affirmation. "I don't understand why I have to stay cooped up here though. Why can't I just go home?"

Alphonse sighed as if he had been though this many times before. "Because you're changing Rose, and believe me its not something you want to do alone."

"There's nothing about that Kain guy I killed in here," Edward piped up from his corner of the room, as if afraid of being ignored. He tossed the paper aside and began pacing by the fireplace. "Not a word. Someone's covering it up."

"Are you sure you killed him?" Alphonse asked.

Edward glared daggers at his brother, but unable to think of a witty reply (as he wasn't sure he _had_ killed Kain) he turned away, examining the old silver watch Kain had dropped when he'd bitten him.

Rose caught a glimpse of the object and, curious, she moved over to Edward to get a better look at it.

"What is that?" she asked, not recognising it as Ling's father's pocket watch.

"This is a very special, very old compass." Edward answered her, though he seemed to be speaking more to himself than to Rose. "What was Kain Fuery doing with it? Aren't you curious, Al?"

Alphonse walked over to his brother, taking the watch from him to examine it himself. "If you're so worried that somebody's onto you, why not just leave town, Edward?"

"We should _all_ be worried." Edward answered Alphonse seriously. It wasn't often he cared about anyone but himself but if the people of Risembool were still aware of vampires he didn't want them hunting Alphonse down. That was his mandate. The two brothers stared at each other a moment before Rose reminded them that she was in the room too.

"Hey, guys, not to be rude or anything, but I'm _really_ hungry. Do you have anything to eat?"

Alphonse went over to the drinks table, where he poured a bottle of red liquid into a tumbler and offered it to Rose, who sniffed it warily, looking like someone testing to see if a bottle of milk has curdled but isn't quite sure if it has or not.

"What is it?" she asked, staring at the glass and it contents uncertainly.

Alphonse said mirthlessly"It's what you're craving."

Edward chuckled as he re-tied his ponytail. "Don't lie to the girl, Al. It is most certainly not what you're craving, but it'll do in a pinch. Right, Alphonse?"

"Seriously, what is it?"

"Yeah, Al, what is it?" Edward took the glass from Rose, sniffing and tasting it like someone would critique a glass of wine. "Is it skunk? Saint Bernard? Bambi?"

Alphonse looked at his brother unimpressed, ignoring his toothy grin, and snatched the glass back before handing it to Rose again.

"Go on, give it a try."

At Alphonse's encouragement Rose gingerly took a sip from the glass, noticing it tasted decidedly different from the sweet, coppery substance she had drained from Kain Fuery the previous night. This blood tasted plain and had no flavour. It was like eating pasta without any sauce.

Edward shook his head as he noticed Rose's dubious expression as she drained the glass. "She's new, Al, she needs people blood. She can't sustain on that stuff."

Rose smiled at Edward. "Yeah, Alphonse, why can't I have people blood?"

"Because it's wrong to prey on innocent people, Rose." Alphonse glared at his brother in annoyance. He was trying to teach Rose how to live without killing; he did not need Edward's "help".

"You don't have to kill to feed," Edward sighed in exasperation; he'd had this argument with Alphonse a thousand and one times before. He turned to Rose with a devilish smile on his face. "You just find someone really tasty and then erase their memory afterwards. It's so easy."

Rose looked intrigued at this idea, but Alphonse wasn't about to let Edward win her over to his way of thinking.

"No, no, no," he said, shaking his head. "There's no guarantee that you'd be able to control yourself. You're newly transitioned; it takes _years_ to learn self-control like that. You could easily kill someone, and then you have carry that guilt with you for the rest of your life, which, as if it hasn't been mentioned already, is eternity."

Edward rolled his eyes and placed his hands on Rose's shoulders, turning her to face him. "Don't listen to him. Alphonse walks on a moral plane that is _way_ out of our eye line. I say snatch, eat, erase."

Edward smiled his signature wolfish grin, and Rose couldn't help but think that Edward's way of doing things sounded much more fun than Alphonse's strict dogma. She was thrown off her train of thought by Alphonse turning her back to face him again.

"Rose, look at me. I can't tell you what to do, and neither can Edward. We can only help you; the choice has to be yours. We choose our own path. Our values and our actions, they define who we are.

"Okay, Count Cornello. I'm out of here." Edward had reached his tolerance for Alphonse's preaching and left Alphonse to his lost cause. As he entered the hallway Edward heard someone arriving at the door, and before they could knock he answered the door grinning widely as he saw who was on his doorstep.

Winry, however, did not return the smile. "Is Alphonse here?" she asked brusquely.

"Yep!" Edward replied cheerily, knowing Winry was not in the mood for his games.

"Where is he?" Winry did not want to rise to Edward's taunts; she would not be responsible for her actions if she did, having come equipped with her best wrench.

"And good morning to you too, little miss "I'm on a mission"."

Winry gaped at Edward in disbelief. "How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything you've done?"

"And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire glib and arrogant?" Edward's voice had changed from cheery and sarcastic to dark and serious in a heartbeat. But Winry was not put off.

"If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead."

"Yes, you would."

"But I'm not."

"Yet." Edward smirked, leaning against the doorframe.

"Where's Alphonse?" Winry asked again, maintaining her nonchalance despite the fact she felt a pit of fear forming in her stomach.

Edward nodded back to the hallway. "He's in the main room singing "The Rain in Spain". Knock yourself out."

With that Edward brushed past Winry and left the Manor, having had his fill of vampire 101 that morning. Winry entered, closing the front door behind her, and made her way into the main sitting room.

"Alphonse?" she enquired as she gingerly entered. From the vampire stories her mother had told her as a child newly made vampires couldn't control their bloodlust and would attack anything that moved. She didn't exactly want to end up a meal for Rose just walking into Alphonse's sitting room.

"Winry!" Alphonse rose from his chair in surprise; he thought he'd be the last person Winry would want to see given the current circumstances.

Winry scanned the room. "Where's Rose?

"She just went upstairs, needed a break." Alphonse fiddled with his ring, unsure as to what Winry wanted from him.

"So, what happens now?" Winry asked, and at Alphonse's confused look explained herself further. "Because my brother is out there searching for Rose with the rest of the town. What do I tell him?"

"I'm working with her, but it's going to take time." Alphonse sighed. "She's a very volatile and impulsive person. She's drug user. All of that is going to play a part in how she responds to this."

"So she's a vampire with issues?" Winry looked to be on the verge of tears. "What am I supposed to do? Because I'm lying to everyone that I care about. What's going to happen to her?"

Alphonse walked towards her and laid a reassuring hand on her arm. "I'm going to keep her here with me until I know that she's safe."

"And how long is that going to be?" Rose sauntered into the room, arms crossed, giving Winry a knowing look when she saw Alphonse's hand on her arm. Uncomfortable with how Rose had looked at her Winry immediately stepped back from Alphonse, his hand falling back to his side.

"We can talk about that later." Alphonse looked guilty, like he had been deceiving Rose somehow.

"Hey, Rose," Winry forced a smile, trying to be friendly though she had never been close to the girl. "How are you?"

"How am I?" Rose answered incredulously, raising an eyebrow at Winry. "You're kidding, right?" 

**Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than I usually do, but I had some difficulty finding good breaks for this episode and this point seemed as good as any. Next chapter will be extra long, I promise! This chapter was **_**so**_** much fun to write, especially the Rose/Alphonse/Edward parts, I was typing out those scenes like nobody's business, but they were so poor grammatically and characteristically I had to do several re-writes, hence the slight wait. I promise to get straight onto the next chapter and upload ASAP. As always I really appreciate reviews, any feedback is greatly received, and I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has reviewed, favourited or put this story on their alerts, it really does mean a lot to me! Until next time, peace love and rock n roll! **


	21. Chapter Twenty: Pygmalion

**Once again I find myself apologising for my tardiness. Even though I have more than enough time to knock out a chapter a week, being unemployed and all, I find that my motivation to write, along with my motivation for many things, is very low. Coupling that with my current Loki/Tom Hiddleston obsession means I'm spending half my time online searching and applying for jobs and the other half scrolling through Tumblr. However, I'm trying to push myself to work more on this story, I'm constantly "writing" it in my head so the heart to write it hasn't gone, just my oomph. So, it'd really make my day if you would review, absolutely anything you've got to comment on be it praise or constructive criticism would be very VERY welcome. For now, enjoy chapter 20...**

Chapter Twenty

Pygmalion

Paninya nursed the third cup of tea she had that morning in the hour she had been at Pinako Rockbell's. She had spent the majority of the last two days at Winry's grandmother's talking witch-talk and Pinako's ability to make the best cup of tea in Risembool was the one saving grace of having to listen to Pinako drone on about the responsibility of having magic.

"Was anyone you or I were descended from burned in the witch trials?"

Pinako chuckled as she took a deep gulp on her pipe. "No, the girls that were persecuted in Rush Valley were entirely innocent. You have to have more than ignorance to trap a real witch."

"How come our families have ended up in Risembool?"

"Both our families fled Rush Valley in the 1690s and settled here. Our ancestors lived in secrecy for over a century. It's important that _we_ still do so."

"Everyone knows you're a witch though, Pinako." Paninya smiled slightly.

"They also know it's absurd, can't be true," Pinako emptied out her pipe and got out her little tin of tobacco to refill it. "I'm just a crazy old lady that makes Automail and has an interest in the occult, no one really believes. They just poke fun, and let them. Just don't let them know the truth."

Paninya finished her tea as Pinako relit her pipe. "So, where's the witchcraft? We've been talking history for two days, Pinako, I want to get to the fun part."

"It's not meant to be fun, Paninya," Pinako said, her voice losing its usual care-free jaunt and becoming suddenly solemn. "It's real and its serious, and you must understand it _before_ you practice it. Now, aren't you going to be late for college?"

Paninya followed Pinako's eyes over to the grandfather clock in the corner of the dining room.

"Crap!" Paninya yelled as she grabbed her bag from the table, hurriedly thanked Pinako for the tea and rushed out the door, leaving Pinako to enjoy her pipe in peace.

* * *

Mayor Bradley returned his telephone's receiver to its holster in such a calm manner it belied his foul mood. His good eye was drawn to his office door as his wife entered the room. She was the one person he permitted to enter his private office without knocking, and he did not really need to even look at her to answer the question he knew she would ask.

"That was the coroner, Kain didn't have it," he said, leaning back in his leather chair and entwining his fingers. Mrs Bradley simply nodded; husband and wife were both silent for a while, almost as if unsure what to say. The mayor finally broke the silence.

"We should never have trusted that Kain... weasel with the watch."

"How many are we dealing with?" Mrs Bradley asked concerned.

"Well, the coroner thinks one. Something about the wound radius and the jaw pattern."

"Are we in danger?" All of sudden, Mrs Bradley's demeanour changed from mildly concerned to almost full-blown panic as she sank into the chair opposite her husband. "I mean if it found the watch, then it knows we know, and could it come after us? A-and should I even be saying 'it'? Is it a he or even a she?"

"If it has any historical knowledge of the town, then it'll know where the watch came from, so yes, my dear, we could very much be in danger."

"So what do we do?" Mrs Bradley wondered anxiously.

"Just keep it quiet." Mayor Bradley finally shifted his position to return to the paperwork on his desk. "We can't have the entire town aware of this; we need to find him before he finds us."

* * *

Paninya just got to her English lecture by the skin of her teeth, sinking into her chair as the teacher began his lesson. Elicia, sitting two seats across from her, gave Paninya a where-have-you-been look, Paninya mouthing "tell you after" in response. The lecture passed with Shakespearean monotony, and as the bell sounded to end the class Elicia jumped Paninya with both unwanted enthusiasm and an unwanted bag.

"I've got your costume," Elicia grinned as she pulled a fancy dress witch's costume from the bag which left little to the imagination. "It's all here."

"Seriously?" Paninya looked at the outfit with barely concealed disdain. "It looks like you left half of it at home!"

"Come on, Paninya!" Elicia crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip in a well-practised pout. "Can someone please be excited it's Halloween? I just want to have fun! Just some silly, fluffy, Edward free fun."

Paninya, rolling her eyes, grudgingly took the costume from Elicia and noticed a necklace as it caught the light. Examining it more closely she realised she had seen it before.

"Hey, isn't this the necklace you got from Edward?" Paninya asked as she held it out to Elicia, who looked at it with resentment.

"Yep," she said non-chalantly. "Wear it, toss it. I don't care. I just want it gone." Elicia changed the subject and her voice returned to its usual care-free lightness. "Hey, have you seen Winry? Do you know what she's wearing? I don't want a repeat of last Halloween."

Paninya shook her head. "I was with Pinako all weekend, I haven't talked to her. Maybe she's with Alphonse?"

"Riding to his castle on his white horse," Elicia said sarcastically.

"Don't be bitter," Paninya smiled as they walked off down the hall. "It promotes wrinkles."

* * *

"Coffee is our friend," Alphonse said entering the dining room with a mug of the magical liquid for Rose. "It's the caffeine; it circulates through our veins, and it warms our bodies so we're not cold to the touch."

Rose took a sip of the coffee, not ungratefully, but a part of her was not happy with the whole vegetarian vampire thing.

"What if I want to drink human blood?" Rose asked as Alphonse sat next to her, Winry sitting across the table feeling like the ultimate gooseberry in this odd situation.

Alphonse sighed, "You're going to have to learn to live with that urge and fight it on a daily basis."

"Oh god, don't start with that whole twelve steps thing! School counsellor has been down that road, and it doesn't work for me."

"It _can_ work. It's your choice Rose."

"So you've never tasted human blood?"

Winry shot a glance at Alphonse, whose face had suddenly gone paler than usual and for once he was not quick to answer.

"Not in a long time," Alphonse spoke quietly.

"How long?" Rose continued, unaware of Alphonse's discomfort.

"Years and years," Alphonse swallowed, looking at Winry who saw the guilt in his toffee eyes and began to feel just a little bit sorry for him again. "I'm not proud of my past behaviour."

Rose took another gulp of coffee before mercifully changing the subject and embarking on a full blown rant. "God, it feels like I've got a massive hangover all the time! Does that feeling ever go away? And this daylight thing is a bitch. I need more blood. Where's your bathroom? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead."

Rose scraped back her chair and went off in search of the Elric's bathroom without waiting for directions from Alphonse, who turned his attention to Winry, slightly unsure what to say.

"I'm going to, uh..." Alphonse spluttered, rising from his chair, Winry raising her eyebrows at him. "I'm going to get her some more. Blood, that is, get Rose some more blood. All right, I'll be quick."

Alphonse practically fell out of the room and the tension that had been building all morning left with him. Winry sighed and began massaging her temples. She couldn't believe what was happening; just a few weeks ago she had nothing more stressful to worry about but her design for her latest Automail assignment. Now here she was, sitting in on an "introduction to vampirism" lecture and trying to prevent a friend from feasting on her brother! Winry had always thought she'd like some excitement in her life but this was beyond a joke. Winry opened her eyes as Rose came back into the dining room.

"False alarm," she almost sang, pulling out her mobile phone. "My body's feeling _really_ funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird."

"Hmm, who are you calling?" Winry enquired as Rose put the phone to her ear.

"Ling," she answered simply.

"Rose, you can't see Ling anymore," Winry said as if she were stating an obvious fact.

"Oh come on, don't you start," Rose complained, hanging up the phone only because there was no answer from Ling. "I'm going to see whoever I want to see."

"Even though you could hurt him?"

Rose looked affronted. "I would never hurt Ling."

"I know you think that Rose, but I'm not willing to take the risk." Winry crossed her arms and shook her head in a manner that meant the discussion was over, but she was about to find out how bad an idea it is to aggravate a newly transitioned vampire as Rose let rip.

"Oh. Oh really? And how long have you been preparing a 'you're not good enough' speech? I'm presuming it pre-dates the whole vampire thing."

"All I'm saying is Ling is not getting involved in any of this. I mean it, Rose."

Winry immediately wished she hadn't pushed it, as Rose jumped out of her chair and grabbed Winry by the throat and not realising her new strength had her pinned against the wall.

"Or what Winry? You'll use one of your little wrenches on me? Let's get one thing straight you perky little bitch. I don't like you, I never have, whenever I look you all I see is some spoilt little brat who got whatever she wanted from mummy and daddy whenever she wanted. And when one bad thing happens to you the whole town fawns over you; I've had to deal with that kind of shit all my life without getting any sympathy from anyone. Now, finally, there's Ling actually treating me with some respect and you have the audacity to tell me I can't see him? Well, let me tell you Winry, I'm going to see Ling whenever I want to see him, because I have some fun new toys to play with, and I won't think twice about ripping your little head off. Understand?" Rose finished jauntily, releasing Winry from her iron grip and waltzing out of the room.

Alphonse returned moments later to find Winry clutching her throat and coughing.

"What happened?" he asked concernedly, rushing to her side.

"She threatened me," Winry gasped, waiting for Alphonse's inevitable excuse.

"I'm sorry, Winry," Alphonse led Winry back into a chair. "She's on edge. Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin. And then when you throw in her other issues..."

"How long before it settles?" Winry interrupted. "Hours? Days? Weeks?"

"There's no rule book," Alphonse shrugged.

"Well, how long did it take you to learn to control it?"

Alphonse looked haunted, before answering quietly. "A while. But I didn't have anybody helping me. I had to do it on my own. The thing is it's hard to resist certain people, especially when you're new, it's difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, anger, desire... it can all blur into one urge; hunger."

"What does that mean?" Winry had a horrible feeling she could answer her own question.

"It means that Ling can't see her, not now. She might not be able to resist him, and she could hurt him."

Winry swallowed. "Or worse."

"I'm not going to let anybody get hurt, Winry, I promise you."

Even though Winry could sense the sincerity in Alphonse's voice, somehow, given everything that had happened, she didn't have the faith in him he wanted her to have. Winry suddenly felt a need for some fresh air; to get out of the house, and excused herself.

"I need to get going."

"Winry..." Alphonse tried to stop her, grazing her arm with his hand.

"Please, Alphonse," Winry melancholy brushed him away. "There's only so much I can take."

* * *

Heavy rock music blasted from the speakers in the guest bedroom that Rose had claimed; she listened to the melancholy lyrics as she sat on the floor, her back against the bed and her knees drawn up into her chest. She spun her hair in her fingers as she gazed absent-mindedly out of the window; the moon staring back at her. Rose didn't so much as blink to show she acknowledged the fact that Edward had just walked uninvited into the room. She'd heard him walking up the stairs and along the hallway anyway.

"What are you doing?" Edward asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust at Rose's taste in music.

"Just contemplating the next hundred years," Rose sighed dramatically before turning to Edward. "Why did you do it?"

Edward scratched his head as he tried to think of an answer. "I was... bored."

"You did this to me out of _boredom_?" Rose said in disgust.

"Its one of the pitfalls of eternity," Edward shrugged.

"Well, now I'm bored," Rose sighed. "All I can think about is blood... I just want some blood. I... I can't think about anything else. What is that about?"

"That'll ease up. You've been cooped up all day, let's go."

"Go where?" Rose asked as she got up to follow Edward out of the room.

"Your life was pathetic," Edward turned to Rose and flashed his characteristic toothy grin. "Your afterlife doesn't have to be."

Rose smiled and almost skipped down the stairs behind Edward, her smile faltering as they met Alphonse in the hall.

"What are you doing?" Alphonse regarded his brother warily.

Edward continued to lead Rose toward the front door, dismissing Alphonse with a wave of his hand. "She's been holed up indoors all day, the girl's not Anne Frank!"

Alphonse's toffee eyes widened in horror, and moved between his brother and the door. "No, no, no. Ed, I don't think now's the time for this!"

"Al, if you're going to teach her, then teach her. Show her what it's all about."

"She could hurt someone, Ed."

"Al, relax, I'm not taking her to Disneyland. We're going to the front yard. Come on." Edward forced his brother out of the way and guided Rose out onto the front lawn, who was starting to get annoyed at being talked about as if she wasn't there.

"It's a bad idea Edward!" Alphonse warned as he followed the pair outside.

"She's a vampire, Alphonse," Edward condescended. "She should know the perks."

"Perks?" Rose asked, intrigued. "Like what?"

Edward grinned. "Like this..." And with that he seemed to vanish into thin air as he ran at full vampire speed around the manor house. Edward seemed a golden blur crossing Rose's vision before reappearing almost in the same spot, where he theatrically bowed to Rose who looked suitably impressed.

"Whoa. How did you do that? That is so cool!"

"Come on Rose, you try. Live a little. No pun intended."

Edward looked on as Rose flexed her arms, readying herself to run faster than she had ever run in her life... or death. Too late, Alphonse tried to stop her, as Rose sped off, unfortunately in the direction of town and not just around the house as he had hoped she would do.

"Oh no..." he breathed, turning to face his brother accusingly.

"My bad." Edward raised his hands in innocence, though the smile on his face told a different story.

* * *

After raiding his fridge for his last bottle of beer Russell slumped onto his sofa, completely exhausted. He had been out searching for Rose all day, and aside from the brief and not-at-all-comforting phone call he had received from her that morning he had not had any luck in locating her. Sighing he took a deep gulp of his beer and looked at his living room clock, which brazenly kept ticking away the minutes and hours that Rose had been missing. It was 10.30pm; he had been fruitlessly combing the town for Rose for almost fifteen hours. For the life of him Russell couldn't say why he felt responsible for Rose, why he felt he had to skip work and look for her all day; she was nothing to him, no more than an acquaintance. But the point was she didn't have anyone in Risembool to worry about her, and Russell couldn't bear the thought of someone having no-one to care for them.

Cursing his own selflessness Russell dug his hands into eyes, trying to wake himself up enough to go to bed. As he roused himself from the sofa he heard a knock at the door. Suddenly he was wide awake, hoping against hope that it was good news about Rose.

Opening the door he couldn't believe his eyes; Rose stood meekly on the doorstep before him.

"Rose?" he gasped, half angry at her for disappearing, and half relieved that she was safe. "Where the hell have you been?!"

"Hey, Russell. Sorry I caused so much..."

"Apologise in a moment, Rose," Russell put his arm around her and pulled her inside. "Just get indoors, its freezing out there."

"Its not that cold..." Rose began before stopping herself; she had already forgotten that as a vampire she didn't feel the cold as... humans did. Russell led her into the living room where she settled onto the sofa.

"Where have you been, Rose?" Russell asked again as he wrapped a blanket round her cold shoulders.

"Nowhere, Russell, just drop it please."

"Rose, five people were murdered in the cemetery. Five people you knew. The cops have been looking for you, they want to question you."

Rose waved the statement off. "They know where I live if they want to talk to me."

"Everyone was worried about you," Russell said quietly.

"Well, I'm back now," Rose said firmly. "Just let it go."

Suddenly, Russell exploded. "Are you kidding me? I've been out looking for you _all day_, I've had a damn search party looking for you while you were off on your crazy little drug trip, and you want me to 'let it go'?"

Rose looked at Russell, shocked, before grimacing in pain and holding her head in her hands. "My head hurts, Russ."

"You think?" Russell said sarcastically, he was exhausted, and so was his patience with Rose.

Rose continued to sit there, massaging her temples and moaning in pain, and as quickly as it had come Russell's anger evaporated. Heaven knows what she had been through and now she was in pain; Russell opened his mouth to apologise but he was interrupted by the doorbell.

"Rose... I'm sorry. Just let me get the door and then you can tell me what happened."

Russell opened the door for the second time that night, and for a second time he was surprised by the person who was calling.

"Alphonse," Russell greeted him. "What are you doing here?"

Rose's head snapped up as her vampire hearing heard Alphonse ask if she was here, and wanting to keep one place where he couldn't reach her and get all preachy she rushed into the hall before Russell could invite him in.

"Yeah, Rose got here a little while ago. You been out looking for her too?"

"Yeah," Alphonse half-fibbed. He had been looking for her, but only in the last half hour. "Can I see her please?"

"Don't let him in!" Rose screeched at Russell, pulling him away from the door.

"Rose, did he do something to you?" Russell whispered as he struggled against Rose's surprisingly strong grip. He looked out accusingly at Alphonse who stood there with an expression of confusion and innocence. "Because if he did..."

"No!" Rose began to beg. "No, please. I just don't want him in here."

"Just let me come in so I can explain myself..." Alphonse said calmly taking a step towards the threshold.

"Al, I don't know what's going on but I think you should leave now."

"Russell..." Alphonse pleaded.

"Leave, now, Alphonse." Russell's silver eyes shone with determination; his priority right now was Rose, and she was clearly upset at having Alphonse near her. He would find out the reason later, but for now he just wanted her to calm down.

Grudgingly, Alphonse stepped back, promising to call another time to see how Rose was. Russell acknowledged him before shutting the door on the cold night, not noticing the evil smirk that crossed Rose's features, replaced by a look of gratitude by the time he turned back to her.

"I think you owe me an explanation," Russell said firmly.

* * *

Morning sunlight shone into the Rockbell's kitchen as Ling was pouring himself a coffee, and leaving his seventeenth message on Rose's phone.

"Rose, please just call me. I'm really worried about you, just call and let me know you're OK?"

He hung up the phone as Winry entered the kitchen, her blonde hair an ungodly early morning mess. She immediately headed for the coffee machine before turning to regard Ling.

"So, Ling, I was thinking, do you want to hang out tonight?" Winry's speech was still slightly slurred from having just woken up. "We could go to the college Halloween party tonight, huh? Could be fun, take your mind off things?"

Ling didn't even look up at Winry as he answered, too engrossed in searching the paper for any news of Rose.

"Yeah, sure," he answered absent-mindedly. "Sounds fun. Can't wait."

Winry huffed at the automated answer and sat next to her brother.

"I know you're upset about Rose, Ling. Russell told me she called him and told him she was OK, so can't be in any immediate danger. But you can't be with her, Ling. She needs to get better, and the best thing you can do for her is to let her go."

Ling looked at Winry, one eyebrow raised questioningly. "What does that even mean, 'Let her go'?"

"You just need to let her work out her problems on her own, there's no need for you to get involved," Winry looked at her brother in earnest. "I know you may not see it, but trust me Ling. It's for the best."

"Winry, for months after mum and dad died, I felt like crap, like 'nothing even really matters' crap. Now all of a sudden, I have these moments where things started to feel just a little bit better, and Rose was in every single one of them. So _you_ may not see it, but trust me; keeping me away from her is _not_ for the best."

With that Ling stormed out of the kitchen, leaving Winry desperate to go after him. But how could she stop Ling from seeing Rose without telling him the truth? How could she protect him without exposing him to the danger he faced?


End file.
